The Death God and the Mystic Eyes
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: The day after Masaki's death, Ichigo wakes up in the hospital able to see strange lines. He finds out from another Magus that he now has the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception...and that it comes at a heavy price. Now he is a student at Clock Tower, seeking to change his Mystic Eyes...can Ichigo survive the attempt, or will working with Zelretch break him first? Also cross with FSN
1. Chapter 1

It all started that day. The day she died.

Masaki. His mother. Dead because of his ignorance of the truth.

Ichigo had hit his head pretty hard falling down, and the trauma of learning that his mother was dead didn't help matters. He eventually recovered, but his life was forever changed.

The first thing he saw were the lines. That was the day his world changed.

"What are these lines Ichigo-kun?" asked Ryuusuke Ishida, the head Doctor and owner of the hospital.

When he had mentioned those lines to his father, he had looked concerned. Ichigo had been around the clinic often enough helping out here and there to know that his dad feared he had head trauma.

"I don't know what they are! They won't go away!" said Ichigo, upset.

He had tried touching one, only to watch as his finger go straight through. Since it had been his arm he had touched, he had felt sick and he was terrified of what would happen if he traced one.

Ichigo's mental condition only grew worse the longer the week went on. The lines he saw were driving him crazy! Eventually he couldn't take it anymore when he saw them on his twin sisters.

* * *

><p>Ichigo ran away from Karakura Hospital, trying to get away from those awful lines. Something about them was wrong, and his body reacted violently upon contact with even one. He didn't dare trace one, afraid of what would happen if he did.<p>

He eventually came upon an abandoned park, where no one else was around.

"Why are you running little one?" asked a voice.

He turned and found a woman with long red hair behind him.

"I don't want to see them!" he cried.

"See what?" she asked.

"These lines... I'm afraid if I touched one, something terrible will happen!" he said crying.

"These lines...are they everywhere, even on people?" she asked.

Ichigo nodded miserably.

"Oh you poor thing..." she said in sympathy.

It took her an hour to calm the poor kid down, and explain what was happening to him.

"You have gained a very special gift. Though you might not see it that way now, it will help you later," she said gently.

"What are those lines?" asked Ichigo.

"The recent injury and trauma you received have given you a rare gift called the Eyes of Death Perception. By simply tracing those lines you can end the existence of something. But they come at a terrible price. If you use them too much, your humanity becomes skewed, and you become very aware of those who are not human around you. It may even drive you to do something that you normally wouldn't, like murder someone in cold blood."

Ichigo looked like he would start crying again. He didn't want to hurt anyone!

The red haired woman hugged him tightly.

"Don't worry little one. I have something that might help you until you're ready to handle this power," she said gently.

She reached into her briefcase and pulled out a pair of glasses. They were oval in shape, and he had seen other kids wear something similar in school.

"Try these on."

Ichigo did, and when he opened his eyes the lines were gone.

"They're gone!" he said.

"Those are special glasses. They hide Mystic Eyes such as yours from view...or in your case, they allow you to avoid seeing what's in front of you. They aren't perfect, and if you use those special eyes of yours too often or too much they will only dampen the effects. But they can allow you to live a normal life until you're ready to use that power of yours."

Isshin found his son a few hours later, and froze.

Ichigo watched as his father talked to the woman...and he couldn't disguise the relief when he learned what was actually going on with his son.

"Ichigo has awakened to a rare set of Mystic Eyes?" asked Isshin.

"He has the Eyes of Death Perception. The lines he sees are in fact the lines of existence of everything around him. So long as he doesn't trace them, he should be fine. I am curious as to how the son of a former Shinigami acquired those eyes though," she said.

"Masaki, my wife...she was a former Magus. She apparently attracted the attention of a noted Wizard Marshal and quit her studies as a result. As I recall, she had a set of Mystic Eyes as well, and I think she was teaching Ichigo how to be a Magus."

"Well that explains one thing...how a shinigami's son could have Mystic Eyes... Was there anyone your wife associated with, or did she teach Ichigo on her own?"

"She just started teaching him, and I'm fairly certain she only activated his circuits a week before she was killed by a hollow."

"I forgot Karakura was filled with those annoying things. The good news is that Ichigo can now kill them with ease, however it would be better for all involved if he didn't learn to use those particular eyes just yet. I've managed to keep him from using them for now with a little scare, but you might want to keep an eye on him."

"In all honestly I would prefer my son be a Magus rather than a shinigami. At least then he would have some protection from those damn nobles."

"I'll ask around for a teacher...chances are that he'll have to go to Clock Tower on his breaks though," said Touko.

"I can live with that. What of the girls?"

"Any competent teacher can show him how to awaken another's circuits...and it will help him learn things he needs as well later. If you're lucky, he won't attract the Wizard Marshal's attention... Zelretch is known to break his students."

"Zelretch? That was the name Masaki cursed about when she finally came clean about being a Magus!"

"I'm not surprised."

* * *

><p><em>Time skip to age fourteen...<em>

Ichigo sighed as he leaned back into his chair. Today had been hectic, but at least he was making headway into his personal project.

After the incident six years ago when his mother died, Ichigo had been learning magecraft from the one person who was nearby to train him...a priest who gave him the creeps named Kotomine.

That man had a screw loose, because he delighted in comparing Ichigo to his only other student, Rin Tohsaka.

Ichigo had obtained copies of all his books, mostly to avoid having his sisters come into contact with that nutjob. He did not like Kirei...and neither did Rin for that matter. He was barely civil with the only other occupant of the Church, Gil.

Ichigo had read about Apostles, but when he first met Gil his first thought wasn't Vampire.

His first reaction was that the man was a spirit of some sort.

At least he didn't piss the guy off like Rin did when she saw his red eyes.

It was his summer break from normal school, so he had been shipped off to England for another round of what he called 'summer school' to his normal friends.

In reality it was much different. Rin was still pissed that he had a free admission to Clock Tower simply because one of the Magi had mentioned his unusual heritage and the fact he had gained Mystic Eyes.

The first snide Noble to comment on the fact he was a half-breed and mention those special eyes to Ichigo walked away with a broken nose and a black eye before the teachers stopped him.

The fact Ichigo had been quite vocal about wishing he never had the eyes and that his mother was still alive had been heard loud and clear.

After that no one was stupid enough to bring it up again.

"Having fun Ichigo-kun?" asked Waver.

Waver was Ichigo's tutor as he was one of the few who could speak Japanese without giving Ichigo a massive headache from his accent. There was also the fact he didn't look down on those of Asian descent like most.

"I can't wait until I pass this exam. Only one more year and I'm free of that damn Kirei," said Ichigo.

Unlike Rin, who was clan heir to the Tohsaka clan, Ichigo was the son of a normal Magus. Thanks to the fact he taught his sisters magic at night, he had practically skipped several different years ahead of the curriculum and was about due to receive what was left of his Mother's Crest, or what remained of it after the attack. It had come as a nasty shock to the Magus Association to find out that certain hollows could devour a Magus' crest and their circuits.

"So how's that project of yours going?" asked Waver.

Ichigo had chosen to study Mystic Eyes as his area of Magecraft, which made little sense to his scant few Mage friends. Most only studied them long enough to either awaken a set, or create them. After that they usually dropped the research completely.

Ichigo already had a pair, ones that were coveted by several, yet he studied the creation and alteration of Mystic Eyes once they were formed. Waver had no idea why until he asked his student.

Then he wondered why he had been so baffled in the first place.

Ichigo was not like other Magi. He didn't like having the ability to kill with minimal effort. Instead he was looking for a method to change his eyes to something less dangerous, or at least had a similar effect but wouldn't drive him to kill indiscriminately.

It was what endeared him to the Enforcers. As long as he pursued that avenue of research, he wouldn't be on their eventual list of idiots who had gone too far in their path to the Root and get himself killed. With his speed and those eyes, Ichigo could be a very dangerous opponent if he had ever put his mind to it.

"I almost have it, but there's some key part missing. Every time I try to change the eyes with prana, they just start throbbing and the lines start to become clearer even through the glasses. I've had to ask Touko to change the prescription."

Waver winced. The fact he had to change the 'prescription' of the glasses meant the enchantment was either weakening (not likely) or the eyes were getting stronger in power (highly likely).

"Have you tried another method of energy?"

"I've tried several, but they all boil down to the same thing...my eyes stay the same. There is one last thing I intend to try, but I have no idea how to go about it. Which is why I'm going to do something stupid later..." said Ichigo.

"What?"

"Ask Zelretch for his help. With what I have in mind, he might be interested," said Ichigo. Waver winced in sympathy.

Zelretch had expressed an interest in his one-time student's son, if only because of his bloodline. However he had never formally approached the boy because he wasn't interesting enough yet.

If Ichigo asked for help, that would quickly change...Waver could only hope that the Wizard Marshal didn't break his most promising student.

* * *

><p>Ichigo took a deep breath, gathered his courage as a Magus, and knocked on the door.<p>

"Come in," said an older man's voice.

Ichigo walked in, his research notes in his bag. Inside the room was the infamous Wizard Marshal Zelretch, Master of the 2nd True Magic Kaleidoscope and known troll. Also in the room was his surrogate granddaughter Arcuied Brunestrud, one of the True Ancestors.

Zelretch grinned and Ichigo had to remind himself why he was here in the first place.

"Hello Kurosaki-san," said Zelretch.

"You know him grandfather?"

"He's the son of one of my students. She had quit the game, but her son has been most interesting since the incident. You specialize in Mystic Eyes, don't you Kurosaki-san?" said Zelretch.

Ichigo nodded.

"Why would a Magus specialize in Mystic Eyes? Don't they usually drop the research once they obtain a set?" asked Arcuied.

"I'm looking for a way to change mine to another set. Unfortunately I've had no luck with it," said Ichigo. He wasn't afraid of Arcuied, but Zelretch scared the hell out of him.

The Apostle Princess gave him an amused look.

"Are you afraid of me little Magus?" she asked, showing fangs.

"Afraid of you? Not a chance in hell. It's him I'm worried about. Compared to Zelretch you're as threatening as a caged lion," said Ichigo honestly.

Arcuied blinked twice. That...was odd. Zelretch started laughing hard.

"Oh? Do explain that comment," she said, flashing her claws.

"You just kill people. He's a damn troll, and he's not afraid to break people. I remember far too well the stories my mother told me about the teacher who ruined her career as a Magus," said Ichigo flatly.

She seemed very satisfied by that response, amusing as it was.

"So you honestly have no trouble with vampires?" she asked, calming down.

"I'm a half-shinigami. I have no room to talk," said Ichigo deadpan. Shinigami were notorious for being on the extreme end of the balancing equation. They wouldn't even allow a half-blood to live if they found them, let alone let a human gain their powers without killing the soul reaper responsible and the human in question.

And there were the tales of the Quincy clan, who didn't agree with the soul reaper's policies. They had the unfortunate problem of attracting hollows because they mixed spirit energy with prana, and when they defended themselves they got into an all out war between the hollows. Eventually the shinigami stepped in and all but slaughtered the clan, claiming they were effecting the world's balance.

Which Ichigo thought a complete load of bullshit to be honest. It might have effected an area of Japan, but he sincerely doubted that the Quincy were killing that many hollows since they were only available in certain areas of Japan. Plus there was the fact that there were literally billions of people in the world. How could killing a few thousand hollows wreck the balance?

So no, Ichigo had no real love for shinigami considering his only defense against them was the fact he was a Magus and trained.

His response seemed to satisfy the girl, and he finally had a chance to ask something that had bugged him. He had heard rumors Arcuied didn't drink human blood after the incident with Roa, but how had she been avoiding the obvious blood cravings?

So he asked.

"I don't drink blood period," she answered flatly.

Ichigo pushed up his glasses.

"Do you get a regular transfusion or do you use blood bags from normal donors?" he asked.

"Transfusion? Blood donors?" she asked confused.

"In the normal world, there are medical efforts to help those who have lost a lot of blood. People donate blood for free or for money, and the doctors match up the blood type. It's given through a needle through a vein."

Arcuied looked intrigued.

"Tell me more," she said. It sounded like a way to get blood without the nasty side effect of accidentally turning someone.

Ichigo explained how a blood transfusion worked, and how the needles were disposed of in a sterile way so that they couldn't infect people with blood based diseases. There was also the fact that the blood was always inspected before going into circulation to weed out those who had a disease and wasn't aware of the fact, or the generally malicious who wanted to infect others because they could.

Zelretch grinned.

"Sounds like an interesting way to work around that no-blood rule you have," he said.

After Roa, Arcuied had sworn off drinking blood directly. It was a good idea, but the downside was that she had a slower healing rate if she hadn't had blood in a while. And blood transfusions were common enough that it wouldn't draw attention if she were discreet.

It would neatly solve her problem of keeping her healing factor up without worrying about infecting anyone and accidentally making them an apostle.

"So why exactly would a Magus be so interested in Mystic Eyes?" she asked finally.

"I wear these to keep my eyes from affecting my day-to-day life. Because of the incident in which my mother was killed by a hollow, I have gained the Eyes of Death Perception. As I have no desire to see the lines of existence or the areas with which to kill in a single blow, I have been looking for a way to alter the eyes, or at least find a way to turn them off. Failing that I am trying to find a way to get contacts that act the same as my glasses, as they are much easier to wear and less likely to fall off," explained Ichigo.

Arcueid seemed satisfied by that answer.

"Using prana wouldn't help. Most Magi would kill for those eyes. If anything using your magic would only make the eyes stronger as the circuits would get used to the strain of using the effect," said Zelretch.

"Which was why I came to you for help. I am aware that as the son of a former captain-class shinigami, I have a rather large store of spirit energy to use. Since it is similar, but not the same as prana or other magical energies, I was hoping to see if I could possibly find a way to alter my eyes to use spirit energy."

"An interesting concept...however I believe doing that would only make hollows and spirits in general more visible as a result," said Zelretch.

"I already see them, even with the glasses on. What else would be new?" said Ichigo.

"Well you might be able to see a Servant, even when they're astralized for one. Still, this is an interesting concept."

And with that, Ichigo managed to rope Zelretch into lending his considerable experience towards his project.

* * *

><p>Strangely, Arcueid ended up becoming a regular visitor at his family clinic after his discussion on blood transfusions. When he informed his father what she was and why she was really there, he immediately placed an order for her favorite blood types on standby with the hospital.<p>

If it meant keeping a vampire from attacking the innocent and giving Ichigo a nice girl to talk to without hiding anything, then he was willing to let someone like Arcuied around his family.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Damn snow...I keep getting snowed in! On the plus side, it has resulted in a mass update for you, the readers and several new stories! Sorry if I've been gone a while, the snow has been the bane of my existence lately!<em>**


	2. Chapter 2

Ichigo was exhausted. But overall he was pleased with himself.

He had finally managed to do something that everyone said was impossible...he had changed the nature of his Mystic Eyes after gaining them.

Though the way he had done so was a complete accident, one that he was still less than happy about.

On Ichigo's left wrist was a charm his father had ordered to hide his true nature from anyone who had shinigami or hollow powers. It was a combination of magecraft and some soul reaper research. It was also completely ordinary looking.

A few days before he was able to switch his eyes, his bracelet had gotten caught on something and had twisted rather painfully around his wrist. The multiple loops refused to come undone, and he realized with irritation he would have to cut one of them in order to free himself. The thing that bugged him the most was that the only thing with a sharp enough edge within reach happened to be Zelretch's infamous jewel sword which allowed him to draw from any number of alternates at once through his mastery of the Kaleidoscope.

Which meant he either picked up the sword and cut one of the loops, or he remained stuck for another hour before the vampire came back.

He only intended to use the sword as a cutting tool and nothing else, so he reluctantly picked up the blade and cut one of the loops, accidentally nicking himself with the knife in the process.

He cleaned it off and bandaged the area...and when Zelretch came back told him upfront what happened.

It wasn't until he went to channel his spirit energy into his eyes that something...odd...happened. He still had no idea whether it was because the loops were broken (there were seven, each with a similar effect...he had to add to the loops each year as his power level kept rising to avoid becoming hollow bait) or because he had managed to bleed thanks to a cut from the special sword. Either way, his eyes suddenly became the same color as his spiritual energy (a blue-white color) and he could tell something was different.

He carefully removed his glasses, and he sighed with relief.

The lines were gone.

"So it worked?" asked Zelretch.

"Either it was because of the loops or that sword of yours. Either way the lines are gone."

He cut off the energy, and winced. Putting on his glasses quickly, he found that the lines weren't gone...the effect was just being overpowered.

"Shall we test to see if that effect is sustainable?" suggested Zelretch.

Ichigo walked around Clock Tower without his glasses and with his spirit pressure centered around his eyes. It was an...amusing...experience to say the least.

However he did notice an odd side effect of his new eyes.

Every time he looked at a person, he could see some sort of mindscape. Usually it was blurry, other times it wasn't focused at all. And there was a relation between whether or not it was focused or not.

Those with the focused mindscape usually had very organized minds, and used Thought Acceleration and knew how to shield their mind. Those with unfocused or very blurry minds were usually clutterbrained and very poor students.

* * *

><p>When he went to Fuyuki to meet with Rin for their usual study date, he ran into a boy with rust red hair and amber eyes. It was all he could do to not stare.<p>

The boy was a magus, and a poorly trained one at that, but he had the clearest mental scape he had ever seen in a living human! The only other time he saw a mind that detailed was...

Was when he ran into the only Magus in Clock Tower who dared to research Reality Marbles. The only reason he had yet to have a sealing designation slapped on him was because it was all theory and nothing practical.

It was only a matter of time though.

"Hey Rin."

"Hey Ichigo-kun...Ichigo, your glasses!" she said in shock.

"Finally found a way to overpower my Mystic Eyes. I still wear the glasses, because it's less of a hassle. That reminds me...how many male Magi are in the city at the moment?"

"Well there's Kirei and possibly Gil...then there's the Matou clan, but the only one who qualifies is Zouken. Other than that there's one other Magus in the city... Why?"

"I think I ran into a self-trained Magus by accident. It's possible he doesn't know about this being your territory, and if that's the case I'll act as mediator so we can clear that up," said Ichigo.

Rin beamed at him. There was a reason why she liked Ichigo...he believed her fully capable of kicking his ass and acknowledged she was a good Magus without rubbing it in that he had a rare set of Mystic Eyes. Ichigo fully planned to become a doctor later on, possibly an optometrist so he could give out prescription Mystic Eye killers.

* * *

><p>It took Ichigo the better part of a week to find the mystery Magus. And an hour to explain the situation.<p>

Shiro Emiya, the _adopted_ son of the infamous Magus Killer, honestly had no idea that he was living in the known territory of another magus. And from what he told Ichigo, he had no idea how to use his natural circuits at all, which was baffling.

So Ichigo brought Shiro to the Tohsaka house to clear this mess up, and hopefully get the boy the training he desperately needed.

If nothing else Shiro could join Karin and Yuzu for the magic lessons Ichigo shared with them.

"YOU!" shrieked Rin.

Clearly she recognized him.

Shiro winced at the shriek.

"Who is he?"

"He's considered one of the janitors! I had thought he might be related to the Magus Killer, but when he didn't show any magic I just assumed he had a similar name!" said Rin.

"It gets better. Kiritsugu gave him Magus training, but he has no idea how to use circuits properly," said Ichigo.

Rin winced. That wasn't just bad, it was a nightmare. A magus who was trained to use prana, but had no idea how to use their circuits?!

"How did you know I was a magus anyway? I've barely been able to use Reinforcement," said Shiro.

Ichigo tapped his eyes.

"I have a special set of Mystic Eyes I've been trying to alter, and when I finally managed to pull it off I was able to see the mind scape of everyone around me. The only reason I realized what was going on was because your mind is far too detailed to be a normal person, and the only other person like that was someone who was looking into the theoretical aspects of Reality Marbles."

"Have you come up for a name for those new eyes, or has the bloodsucker found one?"

"I call it Soul Sight. Zelretch said they're called the Eyes of Soul Perception, a type of Pure Eyes. According to what Urahara said, apparently channeling spirit energy instead of prana altered the sight, allowing me to see inside people's inner worlds, whatever that is," said Ichigo.

When told of what his new eyes did, Urahara had been torn between being absolutely horrified and a desire to research. He was the former Captain of Squad Twelve and the one to create the Shinigami Research Institute.

He was also the one behind the loop system that hid his spiritual energy from most spirit-based beings like shinigami and hollows. He could be seen by them, but they wouldn't register him as anything but a normal spiritually aware human. If they got too close, his Finn Shot would dissuade most of the curious.

(He learned it from Rin.)

Shiro was given a basic run down on how circuits _should_ be used, and after a brief discussion with Rin, Ichigo took him aside to wake them up properly and find out why he had a Reality Marble when he could only use Reinforcement, according to him.

What he found explained quite a bit. Shiro was an Incarnation, meaning both his Element and Origin were identical. And coupled with the incident during the last Heaven's Feel Tournament, created a hellish Reality Marble.

Shiro had no problem with being Rin's guinea pig when it came to new spells in exchange for her not chasing him out. And he was perfectly happy to help around Ichigo's house as payment for basic magic lessons, though he had a _lot_ of catching up to do.

If he was really lucky, he would survive long enough to be labeled a Magus and avoid a Sealing Designation if the Association got wind of his existence.

* * *

><p>Shiro was in the small unused room in the back of the Kurosaki Clinic. Next to him were the twins Yuzu and Karin. On the side was Arcueid, the True Ancestor who was there for her bi-monthly blood transfusion. She often chipped in or corrected Ichigo in his lessons as payment for the blood, since Zelretch often paid off Isshin for the trouble he went through.<p>

Rin had 'graciously' donated one of her worst jewels from her stock in exchange for another of much better quality. Since Shiro had been 'forging' a new circuit each time he reinforced something, Ichigo had noted that the circuits had deteriorated. Hence why he had traded a jewel he had gotten from Zelretch as a joke to Rin for another that was less valuable and gave it to Shiro to swallow.

It hurt like hell, but his circuits were now fully opened and at their proper size.

Ichigo was very, very glad he had given the jewel to Rin later when he found what it was loaded with. Zelretch had somehow managed to booby trap the jewel to prank whoever was foolish enough to use prana on it. As a result Rin ended up with red eyes for a week, to her immense displeasure. The fact she used Shiro _and_ Ichigo as target practice later only proved that much, though Zelretch got a good laugh when he heard what happened.

As Ichigo taught his sisters and Shiro about magecraft, he was unaware of a new presence that was slowly settling over his town.

Because Shiro was often in close proximity to Ichigo when he was using Soul Sight, he was developing spiritual awareness. As such he was seeing more and more spirits of those who had died, though surprisingly none of them from the Fuyuki fire.

When Ichigo investigated the area, he found a large amount of something foul...it was so horrible that mere words couldn't possibly describe how bad it was. He mentioned it to Rin, and when she did a basic analysis she looked like she was about to throw up from a brief amount of contact with it.

Which begged the question...why did the site of where the Grail manifested feel so evil in nature?

* * *

><p>"The Grail? Why do you want to know about that?" asked Waver.<p>

Ichigo told him about the park where the Grail supposedly manifested and the foul sensation that both he and Rin had felt.

Waver shivered, as a memory of that horrific fire came to mind. He had been in Fuyuki longer than required, as he wanted to see how it would end...and partially to protect the old couple who had unknowingly taken him in as their 'grandson'. He had felt something sinister and absolutely disgusting pass by him and briefly touch his command seals during the fire.

What if something was wrong with the Grail?

"I'll help you look," said Waver after a moment.

It took them two weeks, and it was nearly May, but they eventually found something worrying.

"Here...the Third Heaven's Feel tournament... the Church recorded an _eighth_ Servant was summoned by the Einzbern family which was destroyed very quickly. According to this, it was the first recorded presence of an Anti-Hero in the war. After that there was Caster, which you already know about. I don't think he would have been summoned if something hadn't happened earlier," said Ichigo.

Waver had managed to get his hands on the list of Servants drawn in previous wars. They didn't have names, but they did have basic stats at least.

He had given Ichigo almost all of them, barring one.

Iskander, Rider's stats from the Fourth Grail War. Ichigo let him keep it, as it had a set of actual photos of Rider during the war. Who knew that the Church took pictures of the events before and after clean-up as a reference?

"Wait a minute...King Arthur was a woman?" said Ichigo in surprise.

"Alturia Pendragon was her real name apparently. There was even a record of Merlin actually giving her working male genitalia...as a joke," deadpanned Waver.

"Explains Mordred," said Ichigo.

Reading up on the Servants was fascinating, and it lead to Ichigo researching various legends and then backing them up with books from Clock Tower. It was a nice way to kill time in between lessons.

It also lead to a rather startling realization when he recognized the description of the 'Golden King of Babylon', someone who worried Waver greatly.

Gil, the other person who lived in the Church with Kotomine...was Gilgamesh, King of Heroes. And according to the papers Waver obtained, his original summoner was Rin's father.

Oh boy...Rin was going to be pissed when she found out Kirei had taken her father's Servant.

* * *

><p>"HE WHAT?!" shrieked Rin so loudly that birds took off from their perches.<p>

Shiro and Ichigo winced.

Ichigo handed her the papers from the last Grail War, and the second she saw the picture of Gilgamesh both in and out of armor, she became livid.

"That utter bastard! How dare he steal my father's Servant!" she said angrily.

"It gets better. Remember that awful feeling around the Church during our lessons? Well I had Arcuied walk past it and she said that the stench of blood is prevalent from the lower catacombs. I checked the police reports, and the number of children that have gone missing is high, and it's happening on a regular basis."

Shiro grew cold.

"You mean he's..."

"He's clever, and if we can pin the blame on him it'll draw the Church like apostles to blood. The problem is that he's only a secondary threat. The real problem is Gilgamesh."

"Why?" asked Shiro.

"It's clear Kotomine kept him around after the war, though how he became flesh and blood I have no idea. Anyway, the problem is that Servants are so far beyond a Magus that it's not even funny."

"And Gilgamesh would go through anything we set after him like tissue paper," said Rin in annoyance.

"It gets better," said Ichigo sarcastically.

"Oh god, what now?" asked Rin.

"Apparently whatever happened to end the last war caused the lands to become spiritually charged much faster. The war will restart in a few years, possibly by next year at the very least considered I come here regularly. Something was leeching off my spirit energy every time I came here and now I know what," said Ichigo.

Rin groaned.

"On the plus side, we do have an advantage. If Kirei really is up to something, we have a chance to keep him from being picked as Mediator for the next war," said Ichigo.

"Oh?"

"He was a Master in the previous war right? Well it wouldn't be that odd if, as Master of the lands, you asked that he be removed to insure that the Church remains impartial as he was your father's apprentice," said Ichigo smirking.

"That is evil. I love it. That does it, you two are helping me get my Family Crest early so we can get rid of Kirei legally," said Rin flatly.

"If we all get picked as Masters, let's team up and wipe out the competition, at least until Gilgamesh and Kirei are dealt with," said Ichigo.

"Deal," said Rin.


	3. Chapter 3

It was supposed to be an ordinary day. Ichigo got up, went to class, and helped out the ghost of a girl who had been run over the week before.

Then all hell broke loose.

Ichigo had yet to replace the broken loop since he had cut it to get free and it had slipped his mind with the mess he had uncovered concerning the Grail.

As such when the hollow caught his scent, which had only become stronger of late thanks to his new Eyes, it started to hone in on him through the spirits he helped out.

When your element was Void/Ether and your Origin was Soul, you tended to become extra tasty towards spiritually inclined predators.

Ichigo's first real look at a Soul Reaper was that of a girl with blue eyes and haughty attitude. He was unimpressed with her and her soul radiated ice and snow.

To his surprise, he could see a distinct spirit guarding her soul that seemed to notice that something was off about him. She looked like a snow woman to be honest.

He went about his day, unaware that the soul reaper had noticed something odd about him but had no idea what.

* * *

><p>"Kurosaki-san... You've been tagged recently," warned Ishida.<p>

Ichigo knew him by acquaintance, mostly because he was the one to pick up Arcuied's blood bags from the hospital. It was far more discreet than having it delivered, and cheaper besides. He occasionally ran into Uryu, so they knew of each other. They had never talked in public before though.

Ichigo frowned, and did a quick structural analysis on himself.

There was a small ping on his arm where the missing loop was.

"Damn...I didn't even notice. Thank you for the heads up, Ishida-san," said Ichigo, pushing up his glasses.

Uryu nodded. Ichigo and him were friendly acquaintances mostly because he had recognized some of the Quincy items he often carried and had inquired as to whether he was one.

Upon hearing Ichigo's opinion of the massacre, Uryu had gained a slight bit of respect towards his fellow Magus, if only because he felt the Soul Reapers were in the wrong.

When Ichigo expressed why he believed the soul reapers to be fools, Uryu had agreed. The balance of souls was hardly that delicate, and with the amount of people in the world today made it far more likely that the Quincy were doing the balance a favor by _removing_ souls from the reincarnation cycle.

Overpopulation was a big problem these days.

Ichigo made a note to visit Urahara later to get a new loop, as he had a lot of practice making them by now.

* * *

><p>Ichigo was finishing up his notes on ancient legends when he saw the butterfly go <em>through<em> his wall. He didn't recognize it, and the clinic had a ton of bounded fields around it to keep a Magus from stepping into the area without at least warning him. It was quite similar to the ones around Shiro's house.

To his shock and annoyance, the raven-haired girl from earlier came into his house.

"It's near..." she whispered.

Ichigo's eye twitched. He lined up his finger to her head, which was turned against him after she dismissed him when she entered, and fired off a silent Finn Shot.

The reaction was instant. She slammed face first into the floor.

"What the..."

"Next time you decide to break and enter a Magus' house, make sure they aren't awake and fully aware that they've been tagged," said Ichigo flatly.

"Ichigo, I heard...oh. Carry on then," said Arc.

"An Apostle?!" hissed the girl in shock.

"Ichigo, can I get rid of her?" asked Arcuied in annoyance.

"First let's clear up who tagged me earlier," said Ichigo.

He opened up his Soul Sight and didn't find anything leading back to him.

"You can get rid of her. She isn't the one who left that tag on me, and flaring my spirit energy is more likely to draw more hollows here than I need," said Ichigo. He opened the window, and Arcuied took great pleasure in picking up the girl bodily and tossing her out of it.

He was about to close it when he heard a loud roar and saw a hollow coming down the street.

"Dammit. Arc, get the girls to the safe zone."

She was about to leave the room when they heard an explosion. Seemed the hollow had vanished and then reappeared in front of the house, eager to eat such a tasty soul. They both froze when they heard the scream of Yuzu, and Karin would never leave her twin behind.

Since learning magecraft, the twins had been able to see hollows with greater success, particularly Yuzu.

Ichigo ran downstairs in time to see Arcuied catching Yuzu and getting them both to the safe room in the back. It was layered with enough wards to keep out all but a Servant at the least...which was why it made the perfect place to train his sisters (and now Shiro) in magic.

Seeing the hollow, Ichigo debated on using his Mystic Eyes in an actual fight before he remembered something he had read.

Those who had the Element of Ether could affect souls directly. And his Origin was close enough to that particular element that he should be able to actually hurt the hollow.

Ichigo ran outside, while Arcuied took the girls to the room where he taught them magecraft.

"Finn Shot!" he called out, charging it not only with the Gandr curse, but his natural element as well.

The black orb stuck the hollow and it screamed in pain. In his other hand, he held a black key. This particularly weapon was designed to harm anything that wasn't human, and since a hollow was a human who had fallen and no longer registered as human, he hoped it would work.

The key actually struck the hollow and dealt damage to it, to the shock of the reaper. Ichigo kept up the assault, and it wasn't until the reaper had the sense to tell him it's vulnerable spot that he was finally able to kill the damn thing.

"What are you?" she asked, holding her side. She was heavily wounded from taking a hit to save his sisters.

"I'm a Magus. Fortunately my Element happens to be Ether," said Ichigo flatly, before he glared at her, "And why in the hell didn't you unleash that bitchy snow woman from the get go? My sisters wouldn't have been hurt if you had the sense god gave a mule!"

"What?"

"I have the Eyes of Soul Perception. I can see your inner world," said Ichigo warningly.

The reaper looked horribly violated by that news. A soul reaper's inner world was sacred, and to even enter it without express permission...well it was on par with someone stealing a Magus' Crest and Circuits, or worse entering their workshop without permission. It was a very offensive and personal act to gaze into someone's inner world without asking. She managed to limp away, though the look she shot Ichigo wasn't a good one.

* * *

><p>Ichigo woke up in his bed, his glasses nowhere near his dresser where he put them. Seeing Isshin trying to give him a flying tackle, Ichigo hit him with a Gandr shot on principle.<p>

Isshin shrugged it off, having been hit with that spell so many times since Rin had shared it with his son that he was partially immune to the effects.

"Dad, where are Arcuied and the girls?"

"Haven't seen them all morning, though it 'appears' that a truck rammed itself through the front door. And I found your knife on the counter in a different spot where you left it and your glasses on the kitchen table. Care to explain?"

"Some idiot soul reaper barged into the house last night, and she didn't think to release her shikai to deal with the hollow that had tagged me earlier. She knows I'm a Magus, but not my abilities," said Ichigo.

"So the girls are in the safe room?"

"Should be," said Ichigo.

He went downstairs and opened the door, and found an angry Arcuied waiting.

"Oh, it's you. Good. I was afraid it was that bitchy reaper again," she said letting him in.

"How are they?"

"Yuzu has a few bruised ribs, and Karin had a good hit to the head, but other than that they're fine. Urahara showed up about ten minutes after the reaper did and healed the worst of it. What's the cover story?"

"We're leaning towards a truck accident," said Ichigo.

Arc nodded and let the girls out.

They considered the vampire like an older sister, an image that wasn't hurt by the fact Ichigo treated her more casually than he did most other girls. About the only other female he would willingly associate with without holding anything back was Rin, and she viewed him as more of a rival than anything else.

"Good grief...this is going to take a while to clean up..." said Karin.

Because the cover story was a truck had crashed into the house, Isshin had left an empty sake bottle on the ground for people to see. As far as anyone knew, someone had gotten drunk and drove into the house before fleeing the scene. That was enough to cover the insurance on the clinic, though they would have to post a notice that it was structurally unsound for patients.

Ichigo would use that excuse to go visit Rin for a few days after he came home from school.

* * *

><p>Ichigo took one look at the reaper pretending to be human and resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. Judging by the look on Uryu's face, he wasn't fooled either. Apparently she had been injured worse than he thought.<p>

Ichigo avoided Rukia's punch and ignored her the rest of the day, even going so far as to hide around the corner so he could find Uryu.

He was the only other Magus-born in the school.

"What happened Kurosaki? Yesterday you were fine, and now we have a reaper in the school!"

"Little miss socially-awkward screwed up and now I'm stuck with her around. Idiot didn't even try to kill the hollow before it attacked the house. I'm going to talk to Urahara later about a new set of restraining bands. And just so we're clear, if it ever comes to choosing this Soul Society or helping you out, I'll help you out first."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, correct?" said Uryu.

"Exactly. They will try to kill me on sight because of what I am, and they don't like you much either. If any more reapers show up, I'll tag team with you to deal with them. My life is hectic enough without adding their nonsense to the mix," said Ichigo pushing up his glasses.

Uryu accepted this answer. Indeed, Ichigo was far more logical than most reapers he had heard of, despite his heritage.

"Which reminds me...what do you know of the Heaven's Feel ritual?"

"Not much. Aside from it being strictly based in Fuyuki and there have been no winners to date, all I know is that it has a high body count."

"What if I were to tell you that it would be happening again, ahead of schedule, and that there is a real problem with the Grail itself?"

"What do you mean?"

"During the third war, one of the Einzbern Masters summoned an illegal summon under the Avenger class. It was destroyed relatively quickly, but immediately afterwords Anti-Heroes of dubious morality have been summoned during the wars. Last time it was a Caster servant known as Bluebeard who murdered so many people that the Church had to call in a truce so the other Masters could end him. And that fire, we suspect, was caused by the ritual being interrupted somehow."

Uryu could see where Ichigo was going with this.

"You want to know how far along I am in magecraft, correct?" asked Uryu.

Ichigo nodded.

"I have thirty well sized circuits and have almost completed my training. Despite how my father feels about our more spiritual heritage, he made sure I knew magecraft since it would allow me to get into Clock Tower later. He believes that being a Magus is a far better use of my time than being a Quincy."

"And it protects you from reapers," Ichigo added.

"What?"

"From what I found in the Magus Association, the Quincy sect that were wiped out focused more on the spiritual half of their ability and not their magecraft. According to the notes we found, the Magus Association has had contact with other Soul Societies around the world, and aside from Japan there hadn't been any problems aside from the odd Magus who slips through the Enforcer's nets. Those who practiced magecraft were able to avoid being killed, which was why the clan here in Japan wasn't wiped out entirely."

"What of the issues concerning hollows?"

"I asked about that as well, and my suspicions that the powers were developed to deal with an overpopulation issue turned out to be right. Apparently Quincy are more in line with balancing the flow of souls than reapers are. Hollows take out most of the excess souls, but occasionally they have to be eradicated completely in order to avoid overpopulating the world through reincarnation. As you can tell, the Quincy in China alone are overworked, or have been wiped out," said Ichigo.

Uryu looked at Ichigo with interest.

"If it's possible, could I have a look at these notes?"

"I can do you one better. Tohsaka has been bugging me for months to take her with me to Clock Tower for my summer school, and despite the fact Emiya has gotten better his status is too risky for me to use my guest privileges. I've been granted permission to bring two guests to the Clock Tower next school break, as Barthomeloi-sama was quite interested in my research towards Mystic Eyes that used spirit energy to alter prana-based effects."

"Barthomeloi, as in Lorelei Barthomeloi, Queen of the Clock Tower? How do you know her?"

"Apparently the fact I was doing research into an under-developed branch of magecraft caught her attention," deadpanned Ichigo. The fact he was always civil to her and almost everyone had also helped.

The two discussed magecraft for a while as they headed back to the clinic. Ichigo would pick up some clothes before he went to visit Rin since his room had been close to where the damage was and he didn't want to sleep in another room, seeing as how the only unoccupied space to sleep in was the couch. Apparently the hollow had hit one of the structural supports to his room.

He ignored the reaper girl who followed him discreetly trying to get his attention, only to back off when she realized where he was heading.

No way was she going into an area known for draining spiritual beings outside of the little spats that happened every sixty years!


	4. Chapter 4

_**Just to be clear here, Ichigo isn't abandoning his shinigami powers. He just doesn't want to be caught with Rukia's powers since he knows full well that the penalty for awakening a human's spiritual ability is an instant death sentence to both parties, and he doesn't want to be on the Soul Society's radar just yet.**_

_**He'll help out occasionally, but otherwise he prefers to stay out of the whole Substitute Soul Reaper business, as he prefers to be a Magus in memory of his mother.**_

* * *

><p>Rin took one look at him and her eyebrows rose.<p>

"What the hell happened to you?" she asked.

Rin knew the basics of his special eyes and why he had to wear the Mystic Eye killers all the time. She winced in sympathy. Ichigo explained about the reaper.

"So why are you here?"

"Thanks to her stupidity, the hollow damaged one of the support beams under my room. It was either sleep on the couch since Arc was in town, or bum a room off of you. She left before she entered the area for some reason, and she's been stalking me all day."

"Probably wants to make you take up her work since she's injured," said Rin in disgust.

Reapers and Magi traditionally did _not_ get along.

"From how she reacts to me being able to kill a hollow without a sword, you're probably right," grimaced Ichigo.

"Why is she still in the area anyway?"

"She was hurt pretty badly from the hollow and I heard rumors that a new transfer student was coming in tomorrow, which was why Dad agreed to let me come here for a week until the support beam is repaired, since I usually take my magecraft things with me. I think that the soul reaper was an unseated officer, though her inner world was too developed for that."

Urahara had, after making an agreement with Ichigo that he would explain about the Soul Society in exchange for him helping with his experiments so long as it didn't get him killed, given Ichigo a long detailed book about the place. It helped that he had left barely over a hundred years ago and that captains generally stayed in their position until they died or were 'replaced'. It was extremely rare for a Captain-class reaper to retire, if at all.

"So how long are you staying?" she asked, tapping her foot.

"Until the house is repaired. Dad already filed a temporary leave of absence from school, so I'll be staying in Fuyuki for a week at least. In the meantime, we can study magecraft after classes," said Ichigo.

Rin smirked.

"You're avoiding your new stalker aren't you?" she said.

"The sooner I can get rid of her without being tricked into doing her job, the sooner we can alert the idiots in the Soul Society about Kirei. I don't think they would be pleased to learn about what he's been doing around here," said Ichigo.

Ichigo had 'graduated' from Kirei's course barely a week ago, and now had what was left of his mother's crest. Surprisingly, she had at least ten circuits of the Emiya clan crest, though he had no idea why.

If staying with Rin meant avoiding the Reaper who might very well try to sucker him into doing her damn job, then he would stay with Rin.

Besides, the girl was almost ready to get her family crest, and she needed all the help she could get.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Ichigo! Where were you man?" asked Keigo.<p>

Ichigo only associated with him out of convenience sake. The boy was an idiot, but he apparently had the ability to see reapers without having much in the way of spirit energy.

"I was in Fuyuki. Since the support beam to my room was damaged by the truck, I had to stay at a friends house for a while. Didn't the teacher mention that?" asked Ichigo.

Judging by the amused look on Tatsuki's face, she had, but Keigo hadn't listened.

"I thought there was a spare bedroom in your house?" asked Tatsuki.

"Arc was visiting again, and the only open space was the couch, which was too close to the hole itself. It was easier to visit a friend of mine, and she didn't have much problem with me crashing at her place."

Not after he helped her earn her crest a full year early at any rate.

"So Ichigo, you gonna make a move on the new transfer or not? She seemed pretty into you, if you know what I'm saying," said Keigo.

Ichigo leveled a look at Rukia, then at Uryu who looked somewhat amused at her.

"Not interested in midgets," said Ichigo loud enough for her to hear. She glared at him.

"Everyone, we have a second new transfer student. She's from England so be nice," said the teacher. Ichigo did a quick scan of the area and nearly choked.

Oh dear lord, was she really _that_ bored?

Arcuied Brunestrud waltzed into the room looking about six years younger than her apparent age. Uryu choked upon seeing her.

"Hi, my name's Arc!" she said chipper.

Rukia suddenly found herself displaced as Arc stole her spot after hypnotizing the entire class to believe that was her seat. She was stuck at the back of the room to her irritation.

What compounded her annoyance was that Arc immediately _claimed_ Ichigo in front of the other girls, and he didn't fight off her advances like he had some of the others.

* * *

><p>Tatsuki was rather surprised Ichigo let the blond cling to him like that, when he had avoided the girls who had a thing for 'bad boys with glasses' rather strongly.<p>

Just because he refused to dye his naturally orange hair didn't mean he was a delinquent. Ichigo just didn't tolerate bullies was all.

Tatsuki saddled up to Ichigo in private near the boy's restroom and asked him straight out what the deal was between Rukia and the sudden English transfer.

"Rukia is a shinigami who's been displaced, and she seems to think she can sucker me into doing her job. As for Arc...I have no idea but I blame Zelretch," said Ichigo.

Tatsuki knew of magecraft, but she didn't have any circuits. She was one of the rare few mundanes who was allowed to be in the know. She made up for this by training her spiritual power.

"I'm here to keep that bitch Rukia from tricking you into being a reaper. If you started killing hollows the soul society might try to claim you as theirs despite the fact you're a fully fledged Magus. Besides, I was bored," said Arcuied.

"You're that weird blond girl who has to go to the Kurosaki clinic for transfusions once or twice a week aren't you?" asked Tatsuki.

"Arcuied Brunstrud, at your service."

"Meh, not my problem. Perhaps you can be his fan girl shield instead of me for a change," said Tatsuki.

Arc looked at Ichigo with amusement. He rolled his eyes.

"There are at least five different horny girls in this school who find bad boys who wear glasses attractive. All of them have tried, at one time or another, to jump me," he said tiredly.

Tatsuki had been his shield after the second attempt.

Arc seemed to take that as a challenge. She rather liked Ichigo, who treated her as another Magus and even listened to her. He was infinitely more interesting than Shiki, the only other Magus with the same Mystic Eyes.

And unlike Shiki, Ichigo hadn't killed her upon their first meeting. She still had no idea if that was because of some lingering thing from that damn Roa or if it was because of the Eyes.

* * *

><p>Rukia finally 'cornered' Ichigo in an abandoned courtyard in between his spare time. She seemed aware Arc was close by, but she had enough.<p>

Rukia slipped on a glove and shoved it through Ichigo's body. It took all he had not to throw up.

Surprisingly, his glasses stayed on even in spirit form.

She looked surprised by that. He had been wearing glasses up till the point he killed the hollow with an ordinary blade.

"What are you?" she asked.

"A magus. And don't try to rope me into doing your damn job Reaper. I have no love for you or your kind," said Ichigo.

"I don't understand...when I first saw you, you had those glasses on, yet you fought and killed the hollow without them. Why do you wear the glasses?" she asked.

"I wear them to keep my sanity, reaper. The only reason I took them off, which I normally never do unless there is no other choice, was because it was the fastest way to get rid of the hollow. Had you done your job right, or not gotten in the way at all, I could have ended the entire fight with a single hit."

Arc made her presence known then.

"Ichigo has a rare set of eyes that allow him to kill with minimal effort. He hates using them, so he wears the glasses to keep from seeing the lines and falling into temptation. As it is, your kind would try to kill him on sight because of his heritage."

"In any case, there is now way in the Root that I'm going to let you rope me into doing your job."

"You have to! Do you have any idea what would happen if there wasn't a soul reaper to manage the souls around here?" said Rukia.

"Do you know what you soul reapers have done when you practically murdered off the Quincy clans?" he countered.

"What?"

"About a hundred years ago, there were a group of people called Quincy. They had the power to completely destroy a soul and remove them from the cycle of reincarnation. Now instead of trying to dominate the souls, they only went after those that attacked the innocent, namely hollows. You soul reapers showed up and bitched about the fact they were destroying instead of purifying, and wiped them out down to a small scant members, all of whom were Magi who had little luck with their spiritual half of their powers. And now a hundred years later, there is a massive overpopulation problem. Do you know why?" he said glaring.

"I fail to see a connection."

"Quincy acted as cleaners. They got rid of the older souls to make room for new souls, but thanks to fools like you, there is an overabundance. You claim to be maintaining the balance, but I know for a fact that you people can only act in your territory. There is no way in hell that a bunch of samurai wannabes can police the entire world, which is full of _billions_ of people," said Ichigo.

"There is only one soul society!" said Rukia.

Ichigo snorted and got back into his body. He grabbed Rukia's arm before she could force him back out.

"I don't know what that glove is, but get one thing straight Reaper. I have no intention of getting in the middle of your hunts because you were careless," said Ichigo.

Rukia was irritated beyond belief. How was she supposed to kill hollows if the idiot who took her powers wasn't going to cooperate?

Plus thanks to the vampire, she couldn't hide in his house and force him to do her job for her until she recovered.

In other words, she was homeless, powerless and would likely be stuck acting like a normal girl until she got her powers back.

* * *

><p>"Urahara, what do you know of a glove that can force people's souls out of their bodies?" asked Ichigo with narrowed eyes.<p>

"She didn't..."

"She did," said Arc.

Urahara face-palmed.

"Sorry about that. I didn't know why she needed it when she's only wearing a gigai until her powers recover," said Urahara.

Which wasn't likely considering he had given her the 'broken' one.

"That reminds me! I found something in the back store room that you can play with. I might get busted by the reapers if I keep it or sell it, but they won't bother a magus since you have a tendency to kill your test subjects," said Urahara, tossing him some sort of demented Pez dispenser.

"What the hell is this?"

"Modified Gikongan. It says Soul Candy on the side because the SWA complained about the name," said Urahara cheerfully.

"SWA?"

"Shinigami Women's Association. Didn't you read the book I gave you?"

"Just the important bits," said Ichigo.

"Anyway I can't exactly get caught passing something like that without getting busted, but I can trade it to a Magi without them complaining."

Ichigo looked at the duck.

"How does it work then?" he asked tiredly.

Urahara cheered up and told him. So he just had to put it in his mouth and then use a device to remove it after?

"Great..." said Ichigo. He would have to borrow one of the dolls that littered the house. Though somehow he had the worst feeling about this innocent looking green pill thing.

Kon, as he was called, was a pain in the ass. He was like a less annoying version of Ruby, the odd staff Zelretch had made that everyone disliked, if that was possible.

On the plus side, when informed that Ichigo had no intention of handing him off to the reapers, he was a lot easier to deal with. Because of the fact he was in a plush body, he didn't exactly feel the pain of being tossed around by Arcuied, who found him amusing.

Kon could deal with being a Magus' experiment if it meant he was allowed to live, since the soul reapers would kill him if they learned what he was. If he was an active experiment to a Magi, they had to leave him alone.

Ichigo mostly used him for stress release though.

* * *

><p>Rukia Kuchiki was livid. Not only did the Magus who nearly got her killed refuse to own up to his mistake, he also had known Soul Society property!<p>

To make matters worse he was killing hollows, but it was less from a sense of duty and more from the fact they were stupid enough to attack him!

She was able to pass on the young boy, but she glared at Ichigo's back.

Uryu seemed to be having fun, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why.

He was able to piss off a soul reaper. And he had a willing accomplice in Ichigo and Arcuied.

Ichigo seemed to delight in goading the Kuchiki girl (he had lent the book Urahara gave him to Uryu, since they had a shared dislike of Soul Reapers) and Arcuied made it clear she wasn't letting the reaper get her hooks into Ichigo or dragging him into her job.

Strangely enough, despite the fact the True Ancestor was only playing at being Ichigo's girlfriend from overseas...she actually acted like one even when it was only him and Uryu talking. Or when he was with Chad and Tatsuki, the only people who knew he was a Magus but had no circuits themselves.

Chad was Ichigo's friend because on the times they went outside of town for mage experiments, Ichigo hired him to keep an eye on his sisters. Tatsuki had been told the truth by a naïve Ichigo when they were little and since she knew to keep her mouth shut had been left alone.

The only time Ichigo had ever used his eyes to cut the lines of existence was the day he first met Yasutora Sado and he had been bound in chains too thick to cut normally. He had no idea of Chad's strength at the time, so he had used his knife to cut the chains directly. When told of why he didn't just break them himself, Ichigo had offered him a deal. He would use his strength to help Ichigo, and in exchange Ichigo would help him out so he wouldn't have to deal with the idiots who thought them delinquents because they were different. Ichigo also gained permission from Clock Tower so that they wouldn't be memory wiped after seeing magecraft by labeling them as his 'assistants' and not mentioning that neither of them had any prana to speak of.


	5. Chapter 5

"What you got there Chad?" asked Ichigo, seeing the odd bird.

"Someone...gave him...to me," rumbled Chad.

Ichigo did a quick structural analysis, something that was automatic whenever something or someone new was entering his area.

He winced. Someone had done a transferal of conscience, and whoever had did it was a complete novice. Why would anyone put a kid's soul into a bird...better yet, why hadn't he noticed magecraft in his city? The entire reason he had to go to Fuyuki in the first place was because there wasn't any competent Magi in Karakura! Well, at least none he could ask...Uryu and his dad had apparently made it clear to Isshin that they couldn't train him, since they specialized in clan magic.

Then Ichigo noticed an odd tag...one that was similar to the tag that had landed him with a known Soul Reaper in his territory. A hollow was hunting this kid.

"Chad, meet me after school with the _kid_," said Ichigo low enough that the giant was the only one to hear it. Seeing his eyes widen, Chad got the message that Ichigo had caught the truth about the bird and nodded.

"What happened?" asked Ichigo bluntly. Uryu, Arcuied and Rin (who came to visit Ichigo) were all waiting for an explanation.

"I was with some of the guys near a construction site and one of them had brought what they called a cursed bird. A few minutes after he explained about it, one of the I-beams fell down and it caught my back. I offered to take the kid, since I figured you might be able to help him. Ever since I've been having weird accidents. I was late because I had to take a guy riding a motorcycle to the hospital."

"What's the deal with the bird Ichigo?" asked Rin.

"I analyzed it as soon as I saw it...some poor kid who was placed under a transferal of conscience spell. Really sloppy though, so whoever did it had no idea what they were doing, and he has a hollow tag on his body."

"_Um...what are you talking about?" _asked the kid in the bird.

Uryu and Rin's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Definitely sloppy. The kid's soul is hidden by the bird...probably why the reapers never caught onto it. How long have you been in there?" asked Rin.

"_I've been in here a few months. He said if I could evade him for a year he would bring my mom back..."_ said the boy.

Ichigo's spirit energy flared at that. Oh he was so killing whoever put the kid in the bird now.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news kid, but there's no way outside of using the Grail to bring a dead person back to life. Who put you in the bird anyway?" asked Arc.

"_I don't know his name, but he was the one who killed my mom. He looks weird now though...he has a hole in his chest and these animals that follow him who blow up when he makes a shrieking sound_," said the boy.

"You have got to be joking. A _hollow_ was able to pull off a complicated spell like that? With no prana?" said Rin in disbelief.

"I'm half tempted to kill him, and tempted to hand him over to Urahara. Which would hurt worse you wonder?" said Ichigo.

"Urahara," said Uryu.

Ichigo suddenly turned and tossed what looked like a ninja kunai at the corner of the wall near where the door was. A startled squeak was heard, revealing the reaper.

"Spying are we, little reaper?" said Ichigo in annoyance.

He did not like Rukia Kuchiki. He barely tolerated Urahara's eccentricities, and that was from prolonged exposure to Zelretch. Rukia was all stuck up and about doing her duty to the soul society, which Ichigo had no allegiance to. She was still trying to blackmail him into doing her job, since for some reason her injuries had yet to recover.

"How did you...you barely have enough spirit energy to sense hollows!"

Ichigo held up his loops, which he had replaced. In order to avoid a repeat, he had Urahara add a warning spell that would beep every five seconds if he got tagged again.

With him entering _everyone's_ prospective radars lately, he needed that boost. Urahara had even given him a new set of loops, this time with an added feature.

He could remove them and slowly gain his spirit power boost, or he could take them all off at once and use his zanpakuto.

After the incident with the glove, Ichigo had used Kon (under strict orders to come straight back to the shop and to not do anything with the vampire princess) to keep up appearances while he gained soul reaper powers without dealing with the extra spirit.

Zangetsu was a good conversationalist, and Ichigo had no problems with adding a library in his inner world and a place for the spirit to sleep. In return Zangetsu would teach him about his powers.

He still wasn't allowed to use his spirit attack though.

Rukia glared at them all, particularly Uryu, Arcuied and Ichigo.

"I came here because I noticed that spirit earlier. You do realize I have to Konso him right?" she said irritated.

"Like hell you will. He's our only lead to this hollow! We aren't letting something that interesting slip through our fingers, and I' sure Hat and clogs will love us dropping off such a useful experiment," said Ichigo.

Plus Ichigo knew full well that if he brought such an interesting experiment to Urahara alive, then the crazed scientist would let him join in on the fun. Magi were scientists at heart after all, and unlike most they knew what they were doing was in the heart of expanding knowledge.

Urahara had no issues with training Ichigo or his sisters in the fine art of experimentation and dissection, though Yuzu was a better healer than a scientist, unlike Karin.

Ichigo ignored Rukia completely as he turned to the others.

"So kid, what's your name anyway?"

"_Yuichi Shibata,"_ responded the soul.

"Right. Yuichi, you and Chad here will be the bait. We'll capture this hollow and any friends he had and I'll call Hat and Clogs. Knowing him he won't mind sharing his laboratory as long as we respect the house rules. And yes Rin, I'm sure he'll let you join in if you want."

Rin smirked. Ichigo knew better than to exclude her from something this interesting.

"Let's get to work folks! Arc, you keep an eye on Chad and Yuichi until I set off the trap. I'll be the one to grab the hollow while the rest of you collect his little friends. Chad, your job is to keep an eye on the kid," said Ichigo.

Chad nodded.

Ichigo knew he was a good fighter, but until he could make some decent Mystic Codes for his friend, Chad would be delegated to bodyguard duty.

As it was, Ichigo had a hard enough time getting the materials for the one Magus willing to help him in the first place.

Sirius McGinty was a royal pain in the ass to bargain with, and that was before he found out why Ichigo needed such odd weapons in the first place. The only reason he agreed to it was because Ichigo told him flat out why he wanted Mystic Codes that people with high spirit energy could operate.

Apparently Sirius liked the fact Ichigo looked out for his family and friends first.

* * *

><p>Urahara looked up from his book on magecraft that Ichigo lent him to see Ichigo leaving with several medium sized cages.<p>

"What do you need those for?"

Ichigo grinned.

"There's a hollow that apparently has found a way to mimic the transferal of conscience spell. It's tagged some poor kid that it stuck in the body of a bird, so we're going to catch it."

Urahara put down his book.

"Oh?"

"If we get there before the reaper, I'll call you so we can transport the hollow to the lab."

Urahara smirked and a glint entered his eyes. This wasn't the friendly shopkeeper or the annoying reaper...this was the creator and first head of the Shinigami Research Institute and Ichigo's teacher in dissection and live experimentation.

"Tell me more," said Urahara grinning evilly.

So Ichigo explained about the kid and the hollow that tagged him. He knew that Urahara would be more interested in the bigger hollow than the smaller ones the kid had seen blow people up. Undoubtedly Rin, Uryu and Karin would have fun with those.

Urahara went to get his lab cleared from the last experiment they had.

* * *

><p>Chad walked down a deserted alley with Yuichi, who they would free once they had the hollow captured. After learning why he had agreed to be placed into the bird, Ichigo had become even angrier than usual. It was why he immediately decided to hand the hollow over to Urahara before sending him to hell.<p>

Mayuri got his sadistic scientist personality from somewhere after all, and Urahara had trained him centuries ago.

The only reason Urahara had agreed to train Ichigo was because he had actual morals. Ichigo wouldn't experiment on anyone who wasn't a criminal or didn't deserve the horror.

Chad sensed the density of the air change, a trick Ichigo had learned from Urahara and taught to his two friends as a precaution, and felt the back hairs on his neck stand up.

Seeing Arcuied walk past the other end, he held the cage tightly as he ran. Once he cleared the telephone pole, he heard the thud as the hollow ran after him...before it slammed head first into an invisible barrier.

Urahara had shown Ichigo how to make them just to see if he could, and Ichigo had added prana to the mix to insure that the hollows couldn't escape.

"Bet you think you're something special don't you brat?" sneered the hollow.

Ichigo noted the odd formation under his tongue.

When the hollow saw the cages stuffed full of his little 'minions' for lack of a better term, he seemed even more smug. The second he went to explode a few, Ichigo reached forward with his black key and cut off a long portion of the tongue on instinct.

He ignored the screaming of the hollow as he dialed Urahara.

"_You got him?"_

"Yup. He tried to pull a fast one though... We even have his little 'friends' to play with," said Ichigo.

"_I'll be there with Tessai in a bit!"_ said Urahara very cheerful.

Seeing the look on Rin's face, Ichigo smirked.

"You do realize that there are enough of them there that we can all experiment on them right? As long as you know what you're doing, Urahara doesn't mind lending his equipment," he said.

She smirked in return.

Uryu pushed up his glasses.

"Is that offer open to everyone?" he asked.

"Of course. Hell, I'll be bringing Karin later, since she's a fan of explosions herself. Her first live dissection!" said Ichigo proudly.

Ichigo walked up to Yuichi, who was safely on the ground.

"_Thanks mister,_" said Yuichi.

"Not a problem Yuichi-kun. Now, wouldn't you like the chance to see your mom for real?"

Yuichi bobbed his head. He was happy knowing that the mean man who killed his mother and tricked him into this bird was getting exactly what was coming to him. Ichigo channeled a bit of his spirit energy and gently traced the kanji for Konso on the cage. It wouldn't effect the bird, but it would free the soul that was trapped in it.

It was a nice, discrete way to free trapped spirits without alerting the reapers to what he really was. Plus it was less awkward for the souls than pulling a sword on them. It had taken him weeks to be able to pull this off.

* * *

><p>"Ichigo, hand me that scalpel will you?" asked Urahara cheerily.<p>

Ichigo handed him the blade, face mask firmly in place. A few feet behind and around him were several smaller tables each with their own equipment and pinned hollows...the little ones that the big one had used to blindside people with.

Rin, Uryu and Karin all had one of the smaller hollows and were in surgical outfits Uryu had brought along with the face masks. Surprisingly, Uryu's father had no issue with his son dissecting hollows purely for experimental reasons. He just didn't want Uryu to dedicate his entire life to the Quincy arts. It was the first time since his grandfather's death that the two had been able to see eye-to-eye.

Ichigo would help with the initial opening and hand tools to Urahara, but he had his own little hollow to play with once Urahara dismissed him.

He couldn't help but feel proud, however, as he watched his baby sister cut open the small hollow with practiced ease. Her first live experiment!

Rin looked rather happy to have something to play with, as it was hard to capture hollows alive when you didn't have spiritual powers. Thanks to continued exposure to Ichigo when his loops were still a work in progress, she could now see the spirits around town, though there were definitely more in Karakura then in Fuyuki.

* * *

><p>This would be the first time Ichigo used his newly acquired soul reaper powers (Urahara had put his spiritual body through hell for a full week while Kon acted as his replacement) to kill a hollow. He usually just shot at them with his prana, or used a black key to slice through any lines in the mask. It was safer than using the odd knife Arcuied gave him for his birthday last year.<p>

The hollow that had pulled off a known magus spell had been put through hell. Urahara was very thorough, and the smaller ones had already been destroyed.

They were great target practice for Rin though, even if she wasn't as good at Ether-based spells since it wasn't in her Element. At least she could warn off weaker hollows now.

Seeing the Gates of Hell was truly a terrifying sight. If Urahara hadn't warned him before hand, then he might have been shocked.

As it was, it was deeply impressive to him and the others. Even Chad was shocked when he saw it.

(Ichigo hadn't been the only one training...Urahara had sparred with him for over a week just so the boy could unlock his spiritual ability.)

"So that's hell..." said Ichigo.

Urahara handed him a book.

"What's this?"

"All known information about hell in the Soul Society. They haven't investigated that place for over a century, since it pretty much runs itself. Most soul reapers don't even go beyond the first level."

Urahara knew Ichigo far too well. He and Uryu had finished the book in a few days before they returned it.

* * *

><p>"What do you mean Inoue-san had an encounter with a hollow?" said Ichigo.<p>

"A couple days ago she broke through whatever cheap memory thing the reaper chick had going and the first thing she did was come to me. From what I can tell her brother was attacked and became a hollow before he went after her."

"And you want me to do what?"

"Help her awaken that ability so she can defend herself," said Tatsuki.

"I can't help Orihime...I'm still trying to gain my sword's trust so he can let me use his attacks. But... I might know someone who can help," said Ichigo.

"Who?"

"You know her better than I do, Tatsuki," said Ichigo cryptically.

"Yoruichi-sensei?!" said Tatsuki.

Yoruichi was a friend of Urahara's, and when she heard that Tatsuki had a higher than normal amount of spirit energy, she went to see what the girl's power was.

As it turned out, Tatsuki had a rather high affinity for Yoruichi's brand of spirit power...flash step. So she started training the girl in the art and even working out a few kinks in her martial art forms.

Ichigo had a high affinity too, but he was waiting until he was ready to learn his soul reaper powers before he started the training.

Yoruichi still sparred with him every time she visited though.

"Orihime can train with Yoruichi while Chad practices with his new ability against Uryu."

"When is sensei coming back?"

"Urahara said she was about due in a week or so," said Ichigo.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Okay, since there was some confusion about when Rukia gave Ichigo her powers, the answer is simple. SHE DIDN'T. Ichigo went to Urahara and willingly went through the whole Shattered Shaft trials to gain his powers. He has yet to meet Shirosaki, though that Hollow should get along famously with Arc.**_

_**Also, if you haven't noticed, there is a poll up on my profile on who gets what during the Grail Wars. Depending on who the fans pick, Ichigo might end up with an extra pairing. I have a plan in the event that you pick Saber or Archer for Ichigo instead of the standard Master/Servant pairings.**_

* * *

><p>Ichigo was uncharacteristically cheerful today. Arcuied was confused until Tatsuki took her aside and explained it to her in private. In return she toned down her antics around him and didn't say a word about it.<p>

She later offered to stay with Urahara for the day, but Ichigo shook his head.

Arcuied was practically part of the family anyway, and he saw no reason that she couldn't come with them to visit the grave.

* * *

><p>The second Ichigo sensed Rukia's presence, he was pissed beyond reason. This was a private family thing...how dare she follow him?<p>

He looked at Arcuied, who nodded. She had sensed the reaper's presence as well.

A mere hollow couldn't possibly stand up to someone like her, especially not after she had a recent blood snack.

While she refused to take blood directly, she had started to bite into the blood bags because she was sick of being stuck in a chair for over an hour.

"How dare you follow us today of all days!" he hissed at her.

Rukia raised a single elegant eyebrow in cold amusement.

"I was curious as to why you had such an abrupt change in behavior yesterday. Why did you come a cemetery?"

"My mother's buried here, and we come every year. Everyone knows we skip school today to pay our respects! Now are you going to go or will I have to kick you out?"

"Public property Kurosaki-san."

"I don't care. The last thing I want when we visit our mother's grave is to have a damn reaper of all things around!" snarled Ichigo.

Ichigo left, pissed off that the stupid girl had followed them today of all days. They had allowed Arcuied to come because she was practically family anyway and was very respectful about the subject around them. Rukia Kuchiki was neither of those things.

* * *

><p>Ichigo came back to sounds of battle. Arcuied had her claws out, and Karin was keeping Yuzu away from the hollow that had shown up.<p>

He saw a strange girl near the hollow, and memories of his mother's death came to him so strongly that he couldn't avoid them.

His eyes filled with rage, and he could hear Zangetsu speaking to him.

**It is time, Ichigo. Hear my voice and know that from now on you will never fight alone again. If you can trust me, I will tell you how to kill this monster.**

Ichigo calmed down and flexed his hands, as if gripping a sword.

**I am Zangetsu, the sword of the moon. Now, call my name!**

"ZANGETSU!"

Ichigo felt his loops snap away, falling to the ground. They were designed to unlock and fall should he ever say the pass phrase, which was his sword's name. His full spiritual power was at his disposal, well trained since that day. Because he had kept it limited, he was used to the strain on his body. The loops he had always worn kept his output at maximum and wove a shield around his power, hiding him from sight.

Arcuied grabbed the twins and jumped away from the perceived line of attack.

**My attack, Ichigo, is a shot of your spiritual energy or if need be your prana. That attack is...**_  
><em>

"_Getsuga...Tensho!"_

A line of blue energy, packed with his element, slammed into the hollow.

The hollow, known as Grand Fisher, screamed in pain.

"_Insolent human!"_ he screamed. Ichigo shot off another wave of energy.

Despite this being the first time he had ever used Zangetsu in a proper battle, he was able to handle the strain rather well. This was nothing compared to the aches he felt whenever he wandered over to the enforcer's area to spar without relying on his eyes.

As a result his speed was something to be feared.

Karin and Yuzu watched as Ichigo systematically attacked the hollow...his eyes free from the powers of his glasses. Grand Fisher seemed greatly surprised when Ichigo cut through his lines.

When the hollow retreated to his 'lure' which had been the real cause of Masaki's death, something bizarre happened.

Prana erupted from the lure itself, resulting in a soul resonance between the lure and the crest left behind by Ichigo's mother.

The open half of the crest that the hollow had eaten, which Ichigo had despite it being incomplete, flared to life.

"_Ichigo...my Ichigo. I'm so proud of you,"_ whispered Masaki. She could sense the burdens he had gone through, the hardship of losing her. Every time his sword clashed with the hollow, she had seen glimpses of his life.

She was sad that he had gained _those_ eyes after her death, but proud that he hadn't fallen into temptation to use them.

The fact he had somehow managed to rope in an Apostle _Princess_ of all things as his first girlfriend was icing on the cake!

Ichigo felt his mother's crest heat up in her presence...and when Masaki touched his cheek gently, for the first time in years he felt whole again. The pieces that were missing and the parts Grand Fisher had eaten were immediately absorbed into Ichigo's spiritual body. He would now be able to use his magecraft even when in soul reaper form.

Ichigo didn't realize it then, but he was crying.

Once Masaki's ghost had vanished into the reincarnation cycle, Ichigo steeled his resolve. Grand Fisher seemed to understand that there was no way in hell the boy was letting him leave that graveyard alive.

What Ichigo didn't know was that Isshin had come soon after Masaki had appeared and was letting the girls watch the death of the hollow that had nearly shattered their family.

Ichigo didn't have his glasses on, nor did he have his soul sight active.

He could see the area where Grand Fisher's existence was greatest, and he struck it with his zanpakuto.

The effect was immediate.

Grand Fisher screamed as his soul was literally ripped into shred with nothing to anchor to. All the souls he had eaten and devoured over the years were split apart and sent flying...the worst of the sent to hell while the rest were turned into blanks and sent to the Valley of Screams. But it was the core soul, the original one that had created Grand Fisher in the first place that had the biggest impact.

That soul was completely and utterly annihilated from Ichigo's attack. Rukia, who had been quiet throughout the encounter gasped in horror as she watched the soul being completely destroyed by a single attack. Zanpakuto weren't supposed to destroy a soul like that! They were purifiers!

Arcuied gave her a cold look. Now that the danger had passed it was time she gave the idiot reaper girl a piece of her mind.

"I've had it up to here with you, you stupid chit! First you botch your damn job, then you try to force a _human_ to do it for you, then you continuously follow us around trying to cause trouble, and now you've barged in on a private family matter without invitation! For the daughter of a supposed noble house, you are incredibly rude and classless," snapped Arcuied. Gone was the bubbly personality and flighty nature. This was the White Princess in full irritation, and she was not happy.

Rukia flinched. It was well known she was an _adopted_ Kuchiki, not a born one, and that she came from one of the worst districts.

Ichigo and Karin took particular pleasure in watching Arcuied rip the reaper a new one for her behavior. Despite how she often acted, Arcuied _was_ royalty to the Apostles. Part of her job description was to deal with apostles who had stepped out of line and to keep the more powerful ones in check. That meant she had to know how nobility operated and she could really hit Rukia where it hurt.

If Rukia continued to harass Ichigo or the group, Arcuied would register a complaint through Urahara to the Kuchiki clan about getting the girl properly trained.

* * *

><p>Byakuya Kuchiki was the head of the Kuchiki clan and the adopted older brother of Rukia. Normally a commoner like Rukia would never even be <em>considered<em> a possibility for the adoption unless mitigating circumstances were present (marriage, soul bond, she had caught the attention of the elders...) but Byakuya had ignored all that and had adopted her as a favor to his wife, Rukia's older sister Hisana, who had died before she could see her sister again.

As such, Rukia's actions and behavior fell squarely on him. If she messed up, he was the one who was going to be held accountable.

So when he received an odd message from the Twelfth Division about his sister, who had been suspiciously absent for months despite filling out her reports and dealing with hollows, he had to go investigate.

He certainly wasn't expecting a noted headache called Arcuied Brunestud to be calling him from one of the few areas that had access to their area of the after life.

"How may I help the White Princess?" asked Byakuya calmly.

"_I know where Rukia Kuchiki is, and she is seriously becoming an irritant."_

"Has she been getting in the way of discipline apostles?" asked Byakuya, wondering what in the hell his sister had done to piss off someone as notably lax as Arcuied.

"_She's been neglecting her duties as a soul reaper and a noble of the Soul Society. I'm sure you're wondering why she hasn't been returning to your little afterlife in recent months."_

Byakuya's eyes widened, a sure sign he was shocked. How did Arcuied know what happened?

"What happened?"

"_I have friends in Karakura, and I happened to be visiting when your sister barged into their house one her first night there. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the children of the family, particularly the oldest son, are spiritually aware and know about hollows and reapers. When the hollow attacked the house, the stupid girl didn't even think to unleash her zanpakuto like she should have, allowing one of the girls to be injured. If the son didn't have an unusual element she might have had to force her powers through him and make him a soul reaper."_

Byakuya's breathing hitched. Turning a human into a soul reaper was an executable offense, and only extreme circumstances could overturn the conviction. The fact Rukia was almost foolish enough to even _consider_ the idea a good one... She was going to be in for it once she got back.

"_As it stands, Ichigo Kurosaki, which is the son's name, was able to kill the hollow using his magecraft. Unfortunately your sister decided that since she was injured while trying to _save_ the family, that he had to take up her duties."_

Byakuya pinched the bridge of his nose. That wasn't reckless, that was being damn lazy! He knew Rukia was good at kido, and that wearing a gigai only hid their soul reaper form from view...it did nothing to prevent the use of kido!

"Exactly how did she manage to piss you off enough to actually _call_ the soul society?" he had to ask.

"_She's been harassing Ichigo for several months in an attempt to make him do her job. She somehow managed to get her hands on a defective gigai from what I understand, though she can still use kido. She's even infiltrated the school and begun stalking him! What really angered me was that recently, she even went so far as to invite herself to a private family gathering to visit the family grave and pay their respects to their dead mother who was killed by Grand Fisher. If Ichigo hadn't been distracted by Rukia, he might have been able to avoid having to fight the same hollow that killed his mother. As it stands, I'm tired of having to keep Rukia away from the family and Ichigo's group of friends."_

Byakuya was displeased. Rukia had definitely crossed the line as a noblewoman.

"Is she still in Karakura?" he asked.

Arcuied managed to avoid looking sheepish.

"_I may have hogtied her and left her in a safe location until you could come pick her up,"_ she admitted.

When told of what she planned to do, Urahara had Arcuied knock the girl out completely so he could remove something in her gigai. Because of the true nature of the infamous Hogyoku, he had hoped to use Rukia to be rid of the thing at the cost of her powers.

Ichigo, when told of why Rukia's gigai was faulty, had said that he would give Urahara an 8 for execution, but a 5 for planning properly.

As the adopted sister and _temporary_ soul reaper of Karakura, she would have eventually been found out and the man who had replaced Urahara might have discovered the artifact and misused it, never mind what would have happened had the man who had gotten Urahara banished in the first place learned that the girl had it inside her.

It was almost as bad as when Ichigo accidentally discovered Shiro had the famous sheathe of King Arthur inside him. If a Magus had learned of the sheath's presence, they wouldn't have stopped at tearing Shiro apart and slapping a sealing designation on him, never mind what the Einzbern family would have done once they learned of it.

Ichigo had told Shiro what he had inside of him, and what the basic effects were since he wasn't King Arthur. At least now Shiro had a reason for why his makeshift use of temporary circuits hadn't killed him. Once the Grail War was about to start, Ichigo would give Shiro the decision of whether or not he would summon the legendary King of Knights as his servant or not, or if he would prefer someone more in line with his own nature instead.

Urahara spent the next three hours removing the artifact from Rukia, while the girl remained unconscious from Arcuied's spell.

* * *

><p>The next morning Ichigo, Arcuied and Urahara waited as Byakuya arrived from the Soul Society personally to collect his errant sister.<p>

Since Ichigo hadn't obtained his powers from Rukia, the Soul Society didn't have any hold on him. They could contract him on a case-by-case basis as help, but their laws had no real impact on him since he was a Magus. A fact he planned to make full use of.

Byakuya saw his sister, still tied up but very much awake, and the infamous White Princess standing next to a human boy. Urahara kept his face obscured by his hat and made a point to keep his fan present.

"Ms. Brunestud," he said, inclining his head to the True Ancestor.

"Lord Kuchiki," she replied in kind.

"I apologize on behalf of the Kuchiki clan for my sister's behavior. She will be disciplined accordingly for her lapse," he said formally.

"Kuchiki-san was more of a nuisance than anything," said Ichigo. He acted as though Byakuya was Lorelei Barthomeloi. Probably a smart move on his part.

"You are Ichigo Kurosaki, I presume? My sincerest apologies for my sister's intrusion earlier this month. We have confirmed that you took out Grand Fisher and the reward for his death will be sent to your account once we have the appropriate details. Yamamoto-taicho has asked if I could perhaps interest you in a contractual agreement so that we might ask for your assistance should it be needed in the world of the living."

"Only if Arcuied looks over the contract first. I have no problem helping out occasionally, but I would like the ability to decline any assignments I find disagreeable," said Ichigo.

"The contract will be forwarded to your primary contact within the Soul Society," said Byakuya.

The ropes were removed and Rukia reluctantly went with her older brother back to where she came from. Since she hadn't broken any laws, just embarrassed herself as a noble and as a reaper, she would likely just have a minor punishment to deal with and a probation added.

Ichigo was just glad that she was _gone_ from his life and that he had no more reason to deal with her anymore.

"So...does this mean Arcuied will be leaving soon?" asked Urahara grinning.

"Not a chance in hell. Roa isn't due for another few centuries at least (if he still alive) and it's _boring_ just hibernating all the damn time. Besides, Altrouge has expressed an interest into Ichigo and I've been dying to introduce the two of them," grinned Arcuied.

"Wait, what? Why would you want to introduce me to your older sister?" asked a clueless Ichigo.

Urahara couldn't help his laughter. It was obvious to everyone who spent any real amount of time around the two that Arcuied _liked_ Ichigo and not in a 'friends' way, and that Ichigo clearly liked her the same way back. It was only a matter of time before word got out through the Magus Association that Arcuied now had a half-human _boyfriend_.

He couldn't help but wonder if that old vampire Zelretch had set this one up.


	7. Chapter 7

_**As you can see, the Soul Society arc is now officially not happening. A few things will stay the same, such as Uryu getting an upgrade, Orihime awakening her powers (both soul and prana based) and Aizen's rebellion...however Ichigo's interaction with Rukia will be professional at best. He has no reason to deal with the Soul Society issues directly unless they ask for his help and pay him, and his control is going to be much better than canon.**_

* * *

><p>Ichigo stretched in his bed, glad to have gotten that reaper girl out of his life.<p>

Uryu was torn between disappointed and happy. Mostly because he had been enjoying the pot shots he could throw in Rukia's direction and glad that the painful reminder of why his grandfather had died was gone.

Today was Sunday, which meant no school...but more importantly it meant that today he would be helping Tatsuki awaken Orihime's natural powers. Once she was able to handle the strain, Yoruichi would be training the girl along with Tatsuki as Ichigo tended to spar with Chad to practice his energy shot power. He would also be exercising his Flash Step, which he had finally gotten around to.

Uryu had declined joining them just yet, as his father had finally deemed him ready for the next step of his Quincy training...a glove that would increase his ability to draw in spirit energy. Once he had sufficiently mastered that ability he would move onto the next phase of his training...removing the glove and then regaining the ability to use the bow.

Despite his disapproval of dealing with spirits, Uryu's father was in fact a Quincy Master. He just didn't think being a Quincy full time was cost effective since he could use his time more constructively being a Magus or healing the living.

They might not have seen eye to eye, but their relationship was better than it could have been thanks to his friendship with Ichigo.

Ichigo got ready to go, and said good morning to Arcuied.

After being hit in the face with the truth about his feelings toward the vampire princess (in the form of Arcuied sicking her friend Len the succubus who preferred the form of a cat after Ichigo one night after Rukia left) Ichigo had finally admitted he liked Arcuied as his girlfriend.

Karin, when told how Arcuied had gotten through to her clueless brother, had laughed long and hard about that prank.

Arcuied would be coming later to help with training.

* * *

><p>Orihime went down to the underground training area where the others were waiting.<p>

"It's sooo big!" she said happily.

Orihime was a lot like Arcuied...she had a ditzy and occasionally flighty personality, and a very wild and unusual imagination. However unlike Arcuied, she wasn't much of a fighter. Urahara believed her to be more of a healer and support specialist. If she had any combat ability, they would do their best to get it high enough that she could keep the enemy from getting back up, but not make her into a killer.

"Hello Orihime-san," said Ichigo.

Tatsuki was right behind Orihime, and she sighed. She knew her friend had a crush on Ichigo. Fortunately Ichigo wasn't one to take advantage of girls...especially ones like Orihime, who had developed rather large...assets.

"Ichigo-kun!"

"Now that we're all here, Ichigo, do you want to explain it to her?" asked Urahara.

There were chairs in the underground area, and Tessai had brought down snacks and drinks.

Ichigo told her about the Soul Society and why they had brought her here after her encounter with the hollow. Because she had been able to see hollows and spirits more clearly than before after the incident, she needed to train her ability before it got her killed.

Ichigo would also be checking to see if she had any Magus ability, as it wouldn't be unusual for her to have developed one on accident.

More magic and spells were discovered entirely by accident at the worst possible time than any other way.

The first thing Ichigo did was help Orihime awaken her spiritual power. Most often the way to do that was through fighting, in this case though he simply removed his loop bracelet and let the full force of his spiritual energy out. His sword was still dormant though.

Orihime felt the pressure, and knew that Ichigo wasn't actively trying to crush her, but it felt like she was a minnow in the very depths of the ocean.

Something inside of her snapped into place as her spiritual ability kicked in.

Six fairy-like beings appeared out of her precious hair clips, looking distinctly ruffled.

One, who seemed to be covering his mouth with his scarf, looked rather annoyed at being so abruptly awakened for no reason. He was the primary combat ability of Orihime's power.

"Now that you've awakened your ability, we need to get you up to speed on battlefield situations," said Urahara cheerfully.

"Ano...what exactly can you do?" asked Orihime. She was able to breath easier now that Ichigo was letting up on his spiritual power. It seemed to have stabilized as well.

"We (three of the fairies puffed up) can form a spiritual shield," said the one of the female fairies with goggles.

"We (the pony-tailed and rather timid looking fairy pointed at themselves) can create a shield that heals any injury, even a lost limb if necessary," said the tiny blond one.

"I create a shield that cuts both inside and outside the shield. Something like an arrow if you will," said the grumpy one.

Ichigo's eye twitched.

"Let me get this straight. Your power is the ability to heal any wound, shield from any attack from one direction, and to cut like an arrow. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but that sounds far too much like Avalon's power to me," he said twitching.

"Avalon?" asked Tatsuki.

"The sheathe of Excalibur. If I'm right, I might have a way to help Orihime train two of her three abilities and give them an upgrade."

The fact that her power centered around fairies was another factor that lead him to believe that they were connected to Avalon in some way. The famous sheathe and sword were made by the Fae and gifted to Alturia, though the sword had been returned to the Lady of the Lake and the sheathe gone missing until the Einzbern family found it in Cornwall.

Ichigo had an idea of how to double Orihime's training in fighting and healing and to get Shiro to open up more to the people around him.

Ichigo had no issues with his desire to be a hero, and to save the innocents he could, but he _did_ have a problem with Shiro's attitude that self-sacrifice was perfectly acceptable as an option.

While the various groups split up into the previously agreed pairings Orihime would sit down and talk to her fairies to understand her ability better. Chad and Ichigo sparred and increased their knowledge of how their powers worked, since both of them seemed to specialize in an energy blast. Chad was slowly increasing his speed while Ichigo learned how to control his power output better. Tatsuki was with Yoruichi working on her Flash Step, and the beginning steps of Shunko, an ability that worked something like the Chidori attack from the _Naruto _manga, only it wasn't limited to just the arm, but a good portion of the upper body. Tatsuki had been given a special outfit so she wouldn't flash the boys once she started learning that part.

By the end of the day, they were all pretty tired, but rather happy. They would be working on this for the next month at least.

* * *

><p>"Shiro, meet Orihime Inoue. Orihime, this is Shiro Emiya from Fuyuki," said Ichigo.<p>

The red haired boy had come for his usual Magi lesson only to be roped into coming to Urahara's training area instead.

"Ano...why did you drag me here?"

"I called in a favor with one of my old teachers named Waver...he was a Master during the same war as Kiritsugu and he's agreed to talk about what little he knew of the man later. He's teaching the girls today and has agreed to come visit during our usual meeting times. Anyway the reason I brought you here is two-fold. Remember that sheathe I noticed when we were wondering why your healing ability was far above normal despite the fact you're almost fully human?"

"Avalon, I think. What of it?"

"She (Ichigo indicated Orihime) has an ability almost _identical_ to Avalon's ability when it's not in the hands of it's proper owner. She's going to be examining it while we do a bit of sparring. I've recently gained a sword and I know with your element and origin being inclined that way this would be a good chance for you to practice with your projection ability. Once we're done she'll practice her healing ability on the both of us. If you want we can work on this every day for the next week or so," said Ichigo.

Shiro's eyes lit up at the thought of sparring with Ichigo.

"I'm in," he said. He hadn't been able to practice his projection spell because of the fact his guardian was always barging in at the worst times, and this was a chance he wouldn't pass up. Besides, he was curious what sort of sword Ichigo had.

Once Ichigo removed the sheathe from Shiro, Orihime reached out with her soul ability and had her fairies out and examined Avalon. It had taken her a week to figure out how to bring them out on her own, though she still had to use a kotodama to use their powers.

Shiro and Ichigo faced off, and Shiro's eyebrow rose in surprise at the cleaver Ichigo had. Out of all the swords he could imagine Ichigo having, a cleaver wasn't one of them.

And strangely (to Shiro at least) he couldn't really examine the sword in question. When he brought it up with Ichigo later, Ichigo explained why Shiro's 'tracing' ability that allowed him to copy anything sharp and pointy to his reality marble, particularly if it fit the definition of the word 'blade' or 'sword' didn't work on Ichigo's zanpakuto.

"Zanpakuto, or a soul reaper's primary weapon, are not ordinary blades. They are representations of a soul reaper's being. For example, I know you've at least heard of my secondary Mystic Eyes, Soul Sight."

Shiro nodded.

"It allows you to see the inside of another's mind, or if they have a reality marble, what the ability looks like," said Shiro.

"Close. It allows me to see the shape of their souls directly. In the case of people like you, with a reality marble, it allows me to see what the marble looks like and the most basic description of what it can do. However in soul reapers it does something much different. What do you know of a Magus' workshop?"

"I know that most Magi hold it as sacred. It tends to have the very core of their primary research and anything that they have been experimenting with, and that entering one without permission is tantamount to violating their being," said Shiro.

"My Eyes of Soul Perception, or Soul Sight as I call it, allows me to see past the barriers that protect the inner world of a soul reaper and others like them. Soul reapers view their inner world much like a Magus views their workshop, as an area sacred to them."

Shiro remembered Rukia and winced.

"I take it this ability would be seen rather poorly by soul reapers?" he asked.

"Very. If it hadn't been for that incident at the house with me killing hollow she might have made a bigger stink. It also didn't hurt that I usually tend to wear my glasses so I don't actually use the ability much."

It was very likely Rukia had forgotten he _could_ see into her inner world.

Ichigo primarily used it to keep his original Mystic Eyes from affecting his living conditions and later on to self-hypnotize himself so he could enter his own world.

Once Shiro was relatively rested again, they went back to sparring. Ichigo was the winner of that, since his body was used to the strain and Shiro had difficulty practicing the one spell set he _was_ good at with his unique condition.

He later got permission from Urahara to come use the underground training area whenever he needed to and started working out a schedule to do so.

* * *

><p>It took Orihime all of three days of examining Avalon in her spare time before there was a noticeable change in her ability.<p>

Originally her shields were rough, and rather hard to maintain because of how much energy they took to bring out. Her healing ability was less about _healing_ damage than it was about _rejecting_ the damage dealt, which certainly explained why she was able to restore limbs.

Since Ichigo wanted to know _why_ her spiritual ability was so similar to Avalon, even incorporating fake fairies and having a golden tint, he had Zelretch investigate Orihime's parents. She didn't really know them, since her older brother Sora had removed her from the household as soon as he hit eighteen, but since they were her genetic donors they had to have contributed to the power.

As it turned out, one of her ancestors was in fact a crossbreed from England, specifically from the same area where Avalon was found. Orihime was one-sixteenth Seelie, not that she had any abilities to show for it aside from the fairies.

According to the reports Zelretch dug up, her ancestor was around the last time Avalon had been seen, but had left shortly after his children had grandchildren of their own, as he was tired of mortal affairs.

He suspected, but couldn't confirm, that the ancestor in question was related to the Lady of the Lake. It didn't help that Orihime had apparently been conceived while the couple had been vacationing in England and had been staying at a hotel where said Fae had originally lived in before the faeries had left the mortals behind and gone into their own world.

It was entirely possible that Orihime had accidentally inherited such an odd ability from those factors.

The fact she lived in a city not far from where Avalon had been hiding inside Shiro (who was at least a year older than her) was something Ichigo attributed to coincidence until proven otherwise.


	8. Chapter 8

"What happened to you?" asked Rin. She knew Shiro had been going to Karakura more often than normal, but all she could get out of him was that Ichigo had something to do with it.

"Ichigo," he said flatly, crashing on her couch.

Rin had given him almost free reign of her house, seeing as how his projection spell was actually helping her complete something that her ancestors had been trying (and failing) to complete for over a century. It might take a few more years, but Rin was completely confident that she would be able to complete the Jewel Sword that Zelretch had tasked her ancestor with.

They were friends, but Shiro was infinitely more polite than any other Magus she knew. Hence why he was free to come and go from her house within reason. Shiro was too polite to abuse that privilege, but he did occasionally crash on her couch or a guest room whenever he had a bad day and needed someone to complain to.

"I know it was Ichigo, but how the hell did he wear _you_ down?"

"I had something in me that my dad left behind, and Ichigo had an acquaintance with a similar power. He sparred with me while she examined it...and there was a major difference after."

Rin raised an eyebrow. She knew Ichigo had found a Mystic Code geared towards absolute healing in Shiro one night, but he never said which one.

"So is it true that the reaper twit is gone?"

"Arcuied apparently called in the girl's family. Did you know that Rukia girl was from a noble clan? According to Ichigo her older brother was really pissed when he found out that she had been embarrassing the name. He came himself to drag her back, and last Urahara heard she was put on probation and given a warning. Oh, and apparently Ichigo has a contract with the Soul Society so they can call him in for help when anything happens in the living half."

"About time that girl left. So did Ichigo finally wise up to Arcuied liking him?"

Shiro smirked. It wasn't a very friendly one, but one that was far too reminiscent of her own. She approved.

"Arcuied set Len after him and after that they made it official," he said evilly.

Rin blinked, before laughing long and hard. It would take something like a succubus dream to make someone as thick as Ichigo realize that the White Princess actually liked him romantically.

She had entertained romantic notions towards him at one time, but those had been stomped out when she realized how dense he was sometimes. She had been thirteen at the time.

* * *

><p>Ichigo was more than a bit irritable. This had something to do with a certain apostle that had entered his territory.<p>

Altrouge Brunestud had shown up to see just who or what had caught Arcuied's attention enough that she lost her depression over the mess with Shiki. Thankfully without her pet, Primate Murder.

It was well known that the two historically did _not_ get along well. In fact as Ichigo had once put it in front of Urahara, it was like dealing with Karin having Orihime as a sister. The two simply didn't mesh that well.

Fortunately he was able to play off her presence among his friends as a cousin from abroad.

"Altrouge!" said Arc happily, pouncing on the apostle.

"Dammit Arc, get the hell off of me," snapped Altrouge.

"So this is the Black Princess. Want some blackmail on Arc?" asked Karin grinning.

Altrouge stared at her for a moment.

"I only came to see who managed to break this idiot out of her depression. She should have stayed asleep after what happened," said Altrouge.

In fact it was only because of Zelretch's request that she had woken up so early at all.

Ichigo walked in with two cups, heated to the same temperature as the human body. Thankfully he had found a spell to pull that off without involving the microwave, as he didn't want to explain why the smell of blood came from it.

Arcuied took one and he handed the second to Altrouge. She raised an eyebrow.

"How surprising that a Magi such as yourself willingly caters to something like me," she said.

"Some_one_. You are not a thing, and despite your origins you still have a mind of your own. Around here we don't discriminate based on race...though if you were like the fallen apostles that Arc hunts then it would be an entirely different situation," said Ichigo.

Altrouge's eyebrows shot up. This Ichigo was certainly an intriguing person, if he was willing to ignore the fact she was a vampire. He even served them blood heated to just the right temperature, and after taking a sip it was her favorite blood type to boot. Seeing him handle her sister just showed how easily he meshed with Arcuied.

Still, she would have to see what sort of person he was before she left this alone.

* * *

><p>"OH MY GOD! IT'S SOOOO CUTE!" squealed Karin.<p>

Altrouge sweatdropped. That was not the reaction she had been wanting when introducing Karin to Primate Murder.

"Karin, you're supposed to freak out when you see something like that," said Yuzu tiredly.

"Why would I freak out over something as gorgeous as this?"

"I may have forgotten to mention that Karin fully plans to find a wolf and turn it into her familiar once I let her. She has a serious thing for dogs and canines," said Ichigo sheepishly.

Arcuied was just laughing at Altrouge's expression when she saw Karin's reaction to Primate Murder of all things. Ichigo would swear she even took a picture to show Zelretch.

Needless to say Ichigo was not surprised in the least that despite how Altrouge felt about Arcuied, she got along with Karin like a building on fire.

Though he had to put his foot down when Karin tried to arrange for the Black Princess to join the girlfriend bandwagon.

* * *

><p>"Kurosaki. I need a word with you," said Uryu.<p>

"What's up Ishida?"

"This."

Ichigo stared. This was two years too early for Command Seals to start showing up!

"You're a Master in the upcoming war?" he said in shock.

"Is that what this means?" asked Uryu.

"Command Seals. Rin has the incantation to summon with, but she was going to wait until the others started to bring out their Servants before she tried her luck."

"Do you think she would mind if I borrowed that book?" asked Uryu.

"Ask her or bribe her well enough and I don't think she'll care. The only catch is that she'll likely demand that you team up with her during the whole mess."

"Doable. Coincidentally did you know I recently came across a family tree of the Quincy clan?" asked Uryu.

"Really?"

"And you won't believe who I found on it."

"Who?"

"Your mother. According to the records Masaki was thrown out of the clan for marrying a soul reaper, who you know we didn't get along with."

"So the reason I couldn't learn magic with you and your dad is because my mother was kicked out?" asked Ichigo, sitting down with his lunch.

"Apparently. I can talk to my dad about it, if only to see if he would be willing to share some of the lesser secrets, but don't get your hopes up. The Quincy are more like the Fraga nowadays."

* * *

><p>Uryu was given the basic incantation and told that he could have any Servant but Berserker seeing as how he had already been drawn.<p>

He took a deep breath, cast a longing look at the last present his grandfather had ever given him, and started the incantation.

"_Silver and Iron to the Origin._

_Gem and the Archduke of Contracts to the Cornerstone._

_The Ancestor is my Great Master Shweinorg._

_The Alighted Wind becomes a Wall._

_The Gates in the four directions close, coming from the Crown, the three-forked road that leads to the Kingdom circulate._

_Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill)._

_Repeat every five times._

_Simply, shatter once filled._

_I announce._

_Your self is under me, my fate (doom) is in your sword._

_In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer._

_Here is my Oath._

_I am the one who becomes all the good in the World of the Dead,_

_I am the one who becomes all of the evils in the World of the Dead._

_You, Seven Heavens clad in three words of Power, arrive from the ring of deterrence,_

_O Keeper of the Balance!"_

Uryu felt a little light headed as something drained on his prana and took form. The Command Seals lit up and he felt something connect to them.

"I have come when called. I ask of you, are you my Master?" asked a young girl's voice.

Uryu coughed a little before he said "I am."

"Servant Caster at your command, Master," curtseyed the girl.

Once the smoke fully cleared he got a good look at her. She was young, a little under or near ten, with light blond hair and vibrant blue eyes. She wore a gothic lolita-style dress and had a small hat to keep her hair out of her face. Her hair was in twin pigtails that went down her front.

"So you're Caster?" asked Uryu.

"Uh-huh! Now me and Master can have tea parties whenever we want! We can even bring other Servants in to play too~!" said Caster childishly.

"Let's see...Caster class, special ability...territory creation?" said Uryu looking up the Caster. He looked at the childish little Servant and had to ask what her Noble Phantasm was.

"You want to see my special place? Okay!"

Uryu found himself in a strange tea party. He noticed an odd hat on the seat Caster made him sit at. Seeing the Ace on the sleeve he chuckled.

"I've always wanted to see what it was like as the Mad Hatter... Wonder where the March Hare is," he said.

Uryu, for all his grumpy attitude, was an avid fan of anything to do with Lewis Carrol's work _Through the Looking Glass_. He had the jabberwocky poem memorized by heart. In fact his project that he had high hopes would earn him an entry into Clock Tower or Atlas was his recreation of the Vorpal Sword. Rin, when she heard of it later, offered to help him create one.

Apparently the idea of Uryu being that big a fan of Alice in Wonderland was amusing enough to get her to help.

"Hey Master? What's your name?" asked Caster childishly.

Uryu blinked. What was his name?

"Ishida Uryu. But I suppose you could call me Hatter," said Uryu jokingly. Caster clapped her hands in delight before she put the large top hat with the ace in the brim on his head.

"Welcome to my tea party!" she said happily.

Uryu would later wonder how he had managed to get Alice from the story as his Servant...though he would deny to his last breath that he had acted like the Mad Hatter at a tea party.

* * *

><p>"So you got a child Caster?" asked Ichigo.<p>

"That means Berserker, Lancer and Caster have been summoned, leaving Assassin, Saber, Archer and Rider," said Rin.

"We both know Shiro will get Saber...especially since that Noble Phanstasm I accidentally found will draw that one," said Ichigo

"You never did say which one it was," said Rin.

"I would prefer to wait until after he draws Saber to tell you. More fun that way. So that leaves Assassin, Rider and Archer. Which one are you going to draw Rin?"

"Since I won't get Saber I'll try for Archer. How about you?"

"I'll leave it to the luck of the draw. Speaking of which, I have two extra tickets to England for next week. Care to join me? Uryu's already claimed one," said Ichigo.

"Absolutely! Shiro might not be able to go, but there's no way I'll miss out on making an impression on those stuffy nobles!" said Rin, snagging a ticket from Ichigo's hand. He chuckled.

Ichigo, Rin, Uryu and his Servant Caster (she would sit in his lap astralized) boarded the plane while Arcueid would stick around Karakura to insure that Karin and Altrouge didn't get into too much trouble.

Altrouge loved hanging around Karin, as they both liked dogs. Since Karin didn't treat her any differently than she would Arcuied, they got along great. She had a real friend for a change.

Shiro would take some time off from his Magus training to hang out with Sakura Matou, Rin's younger sister and Shinji's adopted one. He had a bad feeling things weren't that good at home, and he was going to find out what was going on if it killed him.

* * *

><p>"Ah London... a more polluted city outside Tokyo I have yet to see," said Ichigo, casting a discreet air-cleaning charm around his head. He passed the spell around to Uryu, Caster and Rin and soon they had sighs of relief.<p>

"So who's going to give us the grand tour?" asked Rin joking.

"Normally Zelretch would, but he's off world and screwing around with some other poor sap. Waver said he would show us around the common areas and the places where the guests are allowed to go. He's hoping to see what I summon apparently."

"You're planning to summon over break?" asked Rin.

"I got the Seals last week, shortly after Uryu showed me his. Better to get it over with and learn how to fight with my Servant before some jerk tries to steal them from me," countered Ichigo.

Rin and Uryu were properly respectful to Waver, who was one of the rare few people in the Clock Tower who could speak more than passable Japanese without stumbling over the language. He seemed intrigued by Uryu's attempts to create a vorpal blade and was absolutely enchanted by Caster.

He also winced when he heard that Rin planned to get an apprenticeship with Zelretch through Ichigo.

"So our choices on the return home are plane or an all expenses paid cruise and getting a plane back to Japan?" said Rin.

"Apparently Uryu did something to amuse ol' Fang Face enough that he was willing to front the cash for the cruise. Something about more potential entertainment if we accepted," said Ichigo grimacing.

"Cruise. No way am I passing up a free trip on an ocean liner, even if we are getting off when it stops at Greece," said Rin.

Ichigo went to tell Zelretch their decision. It was a four-day trip to Greece, and ten hours of nonstop flying back to Fuyuki. And another day into the school year before he got back to Karakura.

He already had his dad writing a note to the school that he and Uryu had caught something abroad and would need two days off before they could return to class. That would give them a day to settle back into their usual routine.

"So when are you summoning your Servant?" asked Rin.

"Tell you what...you two get to be the first to meet them," said Ichigo. He was going to do it before he left.

"Finally!"

* * *

><p>Ichigo went into the cleared room Zelretch had set aside.<p>

"_Silver and Iron to the Origin._

_Gem and the Archduke of Contracts to the Cornerstone._

_The Ancestor is my Great Master Shweinorg._

_The Alighted Wind becomes a Wall._

_The Gates in the four directions close, coming from the Crown, the three-forked road that leads to the Kingdom circulate._

_Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill). Shut (Fill)._

_Repeat every five times._

_Simply, shatter once filled._

_I announce._

_Your self is under me, my fate (doom) is in your sword._

_In accordance with the approach of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer._

_Here is my Oath._

_I am the one who becomes all the good in the World of the Dead,_

_I am the one who becomes all of the evils in the World of the Dead._

_You, Seven Heavens clad in three words of Power, arrive from the ring of deterrence,_

_O Keeper of the Balance!"_

Unlike Uryu, Ichigo had the sense to cover his mouth and nose to keep the smoke from gagging him.

"Servant Rider has answered your call. I ask of you, are you my master?" said the rather beautiful woman with long purple hair and a blindfold.

"I am."

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Why are you wearing a blindfold? Doesn't that make it hard to see?" he had to ask.

"I can sense things perfectly fine, and this blindfold is more for your protection than my own. I do not wish to kill my Master out of carelessness,"she answered calmly.

"Why? It's not like your gaze can turn me into stone, right?" joked Ichigo.

Rider looked at him impassively.

"Right?" he said, hoping that the joke wasn't the truth.

"I would rather not say."

Ichigo put his head into his hand. Of course...he would end up summoning the anti-hero Medusa. And this explained why Zelretch thought it would be entertaining to have them take a short cruise to Greece.


	9. Chapter 9

"Oh wow!" said Rin. Beside her was Rider who was reading a book from the large selection Ichigo had bought for her. Her usual blindfold had become a pair of Mystic Eye killing glasses like he wore.

Apparently they had similar tastes in reading material as well as a fierce desire to protect family.

Uryu was busy treating Caster as his little cousin, and she had practically the entire crew wrapped around her finger. She was that cute. Of course Ichigo had to put his foot down about Rider sharing a room with him and Uryu.

Fortunately Zelretch paid for two rooms next to each other, which was good enough for her to back off.

Ichigo, Rin and Uryu spent a few hours for the next two days enjoying the cruise ship and all it had to offer. Caster enjoyed the children's area of the ship while Rider seemed to thrive in the dance and bar area, where she spent a few hours outclassing every other girl there.

It was the day before they hit land that Ichigo ran into a small...problem.

"Is something wrong Rider?" asked Ichigo.

"It's just... we're almost at the area were I used to live with my two sisters," she said.

Ichigo looked out into the ocean. He didn't see land for miles, and not even binoculars could help him find anyplace to live.

"It has a bounded field around it," she explained.

"About how far would you say it is from Greece?" asked Ichigo.

Rider looked at the map he brought up on his laptop. Unlike most Magi, Ichigo kept up with the times. Rider pointed at a small area not fifty miles from where they would hit port.

"It would be difficult to return to the ship if we snuck off," said Ichigo. He was no sailor, and this was the first time that he had even been near the ocean.

"Not if we used one of my Noble Phantasms and had the others cover for us," said Rider softly.

"Rin is going to kill me..." said Ichigo with a groan.

* * *

><p>"YOU WANT TO WHAT?!" shrieked Rin. How was she supposed to explain Ichigo and Rider's disappearance?<p>

"Just tell anyone who asks that I decided to take a nap for a few hours. I have our room key on me and Uryu can answer the door. This is something Rider really wants to do Rin," said Ichigo placatingly.

"You owe me for this," she growled.

"I'll help get you a decent room in Clock Tower? Or would you prefer to use my workshop once you get that apprenticeship?" offered Ichigo. He knew for a fact Rin wouldn't care for his work, and he had no interest in hers. He wasn't above sharing his workshop if he had to.

"Let me use your workshop when I finally get into Clock Tower," said Rin.

Ichigo sighed with relief. Hopefully this would be a simple run...

* * *

><p>Ichigo watched as Rider summoned the noble phantasm that gave her that class. A white pegasus appeared under a golden bridle and he hopped on behind her. Uryu had a bounded field to keep anyone from bothering them for a few hours, and Ichigo had a pair of satellite phones that he always brought with him in case of emergency, since cell phones rarely had coverage in the places he landed in thanks to Zelretch.<p>

They were far from the ship when Rider took a sharp right into the moonlight.

It took them an hour to find the Shapeless Isle, and five minutes before Ichigo could walk normally.

"Okay, Rin said she would cover for us for six hours, so we only have about five left," said Ichigo.

Suddenly they heard a rustling in the bushes. Rider tensed...there was no telling who or what could be living here since she had been killed by that bastard Perseus.

"_I'm telling you I heard voices,"_ said a woman in Ancient Greek.

_"And I'm telling you that the odds of someone stumbling upon us are..."_ replied her friend before she stopped cold and stared.

Ichigo took one look at the two women who looked almost exactly like Rider before he face-palmed.

"I am so killing that damn vampire. He knew about this!" he said in his native tongue of Japanese.

"Steno? Euryale?" said Rider in shock.

"_Sister?"_ they said in equal disbelief.

Ichigo looked at Rider.

"I take it these are the sisters you ate when you went mad?" he asked dryly. Rider nodded.

Ichigo pulled out his phone and dialed the third number.

"_Zelretch speaking."_

"Damn you to hell, you freaking vampire! You knew they were here didn't you?" demanded Ichigo irate.

"_Ichigo! Of course I knew...though I got the information from one of my alternates. Just think, if you hadn't taken that cruise you wouldn't have found them at all!"_ said Zelretch far too cheerfully.

"I am not paying for their plane tickets," said Ichigo flatly.

"_I already paid for them, and I have their 'passports' waiting for you in your room. Have fun explaining this to Rin!"_ cackled Zelretch before he hung up on him.

"Damn vampire..." said Ichigo, before he looked at Rider.

"Ichigo, does this mean..."

"He paid for their tickets and he left fake passports for them in my room. It's up to you whether we bring them back with us, though I'll have to call dad about whether the expansion in the clinic is done yet," said Ichigo.

Isshin had, once informed of his son's summer plans, decided to expand the clinic an extra floor. There would be a second guest bedroom and two extra rooms for patients in the event of an emergency. He wasn't going to be short beds again like the time Chad had to stay over because of the soul in his pet parakeet.

Karin and Yuzu spent most of their vacation with Altrouge, who wanted to introduce them to some of the other apostles. Mostly as a way to warn them off about drinking from them and spreading the option of drinking donated blood to get the Church off their case like Arcuied did. Arc was off to visit Shiki to see how he was doing, but she had long since given up her infatuation of the man.

"_Kurosaki Clinic, Isshin speaking."_

"Dad, is the new extension finished yet?"asked Ichigo.

"_Ichigo! It should be finished in a few days, unless you're open to helping me with the wallpaper or the paint. Ryuusuke offered to fund the extra beds and the like when I told him what the extension was for, since it would relieve some of the overflow from the hospital. When are you coming back?"_

"I should be home in a two to three days...but I'll be bringing what are likely to be permanent guests...all girls."

"_You're not cheating on Arcuied are you?"_

"Hell no! I summoned my Servant and we found out that her sisters are still alive and I doubt they'd want to stay on an abandoned island like they are now," said Ichigo.

"_That's perfectly acceptable then! Though you'll be explaining to your girlfriend about the newcomers,"_ said Isshin.

"I know."

Ichigo looked at Rider.

"Dad said it's okay, but the rooms still need a coat of paint or some wallpaper. Gives me a chance to find a way to teach them English and possibly Japanese," he said to Rider.

"Your family is okay with you bringing strange girls home?" asked Rider surprised.

"I brought back a True Ancestor Princess who later became my girlfriend because of a comment I made about donated blood instead of drinking it directly. I don't think they'll care if I bring a trio of gorgons home so long as you don't reveal you're anything but human," said Ichigo dryly.

"...A true ancestor Princess?" said Rider surprised.

"Arcuied Brunstrud. She has her own room and is pretty much part of the family. My little sister Karin is good friends with her sister Altrouge...they have a similar love of dogs apparently," said Ichigo.

* * *

><p>It took Rider two trips to bring her sisters to the cruise liner and collect Ichigo as well. They were very excited over leaving the isle and staying with their sister again. Something about how they had teased her when she was alive.<p>

Rin's eye was twitching when Ichigo came back though.

"Let me get this straight. You went out for a short trip with Rider and end up finding her sisters?" she said.

"Look at it this way... you could probably convince them to give you some of their venom on people you really don't like if you ask nicely?" he said.

"I have to admit Ichigo, this is weird even for you," said Uryu.

"It gets better...they can only speak Greek," said Ichigo.

Uryu and Rin grimaced.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, after the sisters had gone to sleep and woken up to find yesterday hadn't been a dream, they got ready to leave the ship.<p>

Ichigo found a man waiting for them with a letter from Zelretch and what appeared to be lozenges.

"What are these?" he wondered.

_'Ichigo_

_Since I don't want my fun to be stalled by a communication issue, I had one of my alternates show me a world where you can learn the basics of a language by taking one of these lozenges. The red ones are for Japanese, the blue are English. They can only be taken once a month, and it takes a few hours for them to start working._

_Zelretch.'_

"Well at least old fang face isn't a total asshole," said Ichigo. He handed both the gorgon sisters a red lozenge.

"What are those?" asked Rider.

"According to fang face they're language lozenges. The red ones will teach them Japanese, so hopefully they can understand me and the others by the time we get back to Fuyuki. Blue ones are for English and they can only be taken once a month," explained Ichigo.

"And because I'm a Servant I don't actually need one," said Rider, realizing his reasoning. She explained the red items to her sisters who both took one. They couldn't speak Japanese immediately, but Rider could translate for them until the lozenges took full effect.

Rin, Uryu and Caster all spent the next few hours looking around until their flight was scheduled to leave, while Ichigo spent the time with a raging headache from the excitable gorgon sisters and a rather quiet Rider. At least Ichigo was able to quell Rider's anger towards Athena by dragging her to the first bookstore he found and telling he to go nuts.

By the time they got on the plane, Ichigo was exhausted. By the time they reached Rin's house in Fuyuki, he was downright dead on his feet. Jet lag and keeping Steno and Euryale contained on that plane for ten hours? He was lucky he was even able to walk.

* * *

><p>Ichigo was about as awake as Rin was when he came into the kitchen. Shiro had gotten a call from Rin the night before that they were back, and he was ready for them.<p>

He wasn't ready for a pair of sisters and their overprotective sibling, or the childish Caster to wake up first.

"Morning Ichigo...who are these three?" asked Shiro, handing him some coffee.

"Rider is the one with the glasses. Steno is the one on the right and Euryale is on the left. Rider is my Servant and these two are her sisters," explained Ichigo with a yawn.

"Her...sisters?"

"Shiro, meet the gorgon Medusa...her legend was misinterpreted horribly, and from what she's said of Perseus he was a 'more successful Shinji' according to them."

Shiro's face went dark.

"Yes, about Shinji...normally I wouldn't ask this but is there any chance we could kill him during the Grail War or have him be eaten by a hollow anytime soon?" asked Shiro.

Ichigo's sleepy gaze sharpened suddenly as he looked at Shiro.

"What did Sakura say?" he asked a little too calmly.

"He's raping her on Zouken's orders. It took me days to even get her to admit that much," spat Shiro angrily.

"...I agree. Shinji is a dead man, Master or not," said Ichigo.

"What's this about that braggart Shinji?" yawned Rin, accepting coffee from Uryu.

"Shinji," spat Shiro, "Has been raping Sakura on Zouken's orders."

Rin, who had been about to take a drink of water, spewed the drink across the table.

"HE WHAT?" she demanded.

Shiro told her what Sakura had reluctantly admitted to him. Rin wasn't pissed, no she was a pillar of glacial fury hearing that.

"And from what I've heard of the Makiri line, they specialize in crest worms," said Ichigo grimly.

Rin was damn near the point of breaking her coffee cup. She was that angry.

"He is a dead man," she snarled.

"Who is Shinji, and why are you so angry?" asked Uryu.

"Shinji Matou, Sakura Matou's _adopted_ older brother. Sakura was my little sister before my father traded her over to Zouken shortly before the fourth grail war. She wasn't even _five_ at the time," snarled Rin.

"Shinji is a bit of an asshole and a braggart. From what I've seen of him, he couldn't even use magic if his life depended on it. He has no circuits, and if push came to shove he would be little more than cannon fodder against any real Magi," said Ichigo.

"Didn't you once say that my description of Perseus sounded like a 'more successful Shinji'?" asked Rider.

"Pretty much. He's all talk and no ability or talent to back it up," said Ichigo.

Rider made a face.

"In that case. Anyone feel upset if I were to string his dead corpse up by my chains for the entire world to see after giving him a lethal dose of venom?" she asked. He wasn't Perseus, but he was a good second from that description alone.

"Only after we're through with expressing our displeasure for him hurting Sakura. An older sibling is supposed to _protect_ their younger ones, not hurt them like Shinji has!" said Ichigo angrily.

Rin winced.

"I don't blame you Rin. You were too young to do anything about it, and the laws of the family would have made it impossible for you to help her openly. But we are going to rescue Sakura from that house before the war is over," said Ichigo.

* * *

><p><em><strong>(AN: the alternate Zelretch visited is the one from **Fate's Gamble** by Lupine Horror. If you haven't read it, then you are seriously missing out on a good story!)**_


End file.
